Loud House: New World Crisis
by Lord-Zer0
Summary: AU to 'Not a Loud', 9 years into the future, Lincoln and Lucy try to find their way back home to their family after the world changing events of an advanced scientific terrorist organization 'HD' separates the two Louds. – Rated M for adult content (First fic to be posted, PM for honest critique)
1. Prologue

**[AN: Thank you for taking the time to read the first chapter in my first posted story with hopefully more to come, this is a blend of The Loud House, Resident Evil, Infamous: Second Son, Marvel, DC with references to Fallout, Dark Souls/Bloodborne and various other works of fiction.]**

**[ Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or anything really.]**

Posted 9/1/19

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**Loud House: New world Crisis**

-Prologue-

Beneath the bright and cloudy orange skies indicating a sunset we see two figures moving about the ruins of a town somewhere they believe to be El Paso, Colorado. A tall, muscular man and a curvy woman of average height moving about looking forward but by the body language of the man, he's ready for a fight.

The man has a tanned complexion, strong features, no doubt formed by the many hard years behind him living through destroyed cities one after another having to fight for his own life and the life of his companion. He's wearing an open brown leather jacket with a rustic orange trim lining where the zippers would meet and around his collar, a black t-shirt underneath, he wears black fingerless gloves and on his lower half he's wearing dull, faded and torn blue jeans and black combat boots.

His most prominent features would be his glowing golden-amber eyes and messy, barely cleaned (all natural) white hair, at neck length and the edges framing his face, he stands about 6'6".

He carries a large, green camping backpack filled with who knows what, a grey duffle bag filled with items grinding and scraping together with a metallic sound resonating within, a pistol is tucked behind his pants, a shotgun strapped over his shoulder, and a big hunting knife, holstered by his left hip. His eyes are calm, focused and shift from left to right on occasion as he makes his way through these ruins.

The woman beside him has on a very clean all-black dress, long sleeves that reach and connect to her middle fingers, a fabric of see-through lace would 'cover' itself over her collar and cleavage, just above her sizable triple D chest, a swaying skirt that hovers just above her knees, her legs adorned with black lacy, flower embroidered stockings and on her feet were worn black flat heeled shoes, clearly she has a fascination with the color black.

The woman herself had skin so translucent they were as if porcelain, such a pure ivory tone you'd believe she'd be set ablaze the moment the sun shined on her. Her hair is styled in a pseudo-hime cut that go past her eyes, two long strips of her inky black hair hides her ears and touches her shoulders, around the back, the rest of her hair hangs freely and is so dark they consume the light around her, barely half her face could be made out, soft full lips, high cheek bones, a button nose and either her most alluring or frightening feature is the glowing neon blue eye that could see into your very soul.

Normally she lets her bangs hang over her eyes in a v-shaped cut, currently however she has brushed her bangs aside just enough to let her right eye peek through and grace/haunt the world with a disinterested gaze, she looks to be around 5'8".

The woman also had a backpack, although a few sizes smaller than the man accompanying her but in the woman's arms lay a small black cat. This cat was nearly all black if not for the quirk of a small patch of white hair decorating its chest. By the rising and falling patterns of its body we see that the cat is sleeping.

"Hey you doing okay there, Luce, we've been walking for a while, your feet must be killing you." The man asked with concern.

"Afraid not even this traitorous journey through another forgotten city lying in devastation is enough to send me into the welcoming arms of the immortal reaper, Lincoln, sigh, but I thank you for your concern." She said in a dispassionate tone, giving no indication that she is joking, being serious or even upset.

"… Right, Lucy I think we should set up camp soon but this place just doesn't feel right to me." The now named Lincoln said with his eyes narrowing.

"I know, I feel it too and with Salem beginning to stir, I believe we may encounter something soon, what do you think it is, Lincoln?" She said again with a voice completely devoid of emotion, no excitement or even worry.

"I don't know, but judging from the lack of bodies, remains or even wild life, we might have another 'apex predator' in these parts, we should get ready Luce." Lincoln said while unsheathing his knife with his right hand, metallic silver handle with a black grip, slightly curved and the tainted-grey blade having a few nicks here and there showing it has seen action.

"Sigh, you're rig-"

***Guraaaaaah reeeeeeeh***

"What was that Lincoln?" Lucy somehow asked with obvious surprise but still lacking emotion.

"Something big, I can feel it." Lincoln then pauses and closes his eyes.

***Thump Thump Thump Crack Thump* **Both Lincoln and Lucy fall back into a readied stance as the cat, full awake, leaps out of lucy's arms and looks on to the source of the thumping with narrowed glowing yellow and green eyes with its pupils slitting.

From the corner of a damaged building a scaly clawed hand grips the building as the thunderous thumping now known as the hunched-over creature's footsteps rounding the building and now spotting its new prey. At an astonishing 8'6" the figure comes closer to give the three a better look.

The creature is a bipedal, scaly, long clawed reptilian beast, while it had brownish-green armor like scales, it had a lightly tanned colored underbelly the armor didn't extend towards. It has to two horns that curved outward on a head that made it look like a mix of an ape and a dinosaur, a pair of elongated arms and matching lizard-like legs, each with four clawed digits.

A long reptilian tail that resembled a crocodile and if there was a word that perfectly described this monster it probably would be demonic, with that mouth full of sharpened teeth unhinging for another shriek.

***Skreeee*** It roared before taking off, as if giving some kind of battle cry as it rushed our trio in an unsteady sprint.

Lincoln dropped his bags and grabbed his pistol with his free hand.

***SIGH*** "Another one of these and what's it doing so-"

Lincoln is interrupted as it comes near, specifically towards him and tries to impale Lincoln on its horns.

Lincoln dodges with a side roll as Lucy moves away with Salem following.

"Woah, coming in hot!" He says on one knee and quickly popping up onto his feet

The beast turns knowing it didn't catch its intended target and then aims for Lucy and charges forward, she raises her head with her eye expressing worry.

***BANG BANG*** Two gunshots sound off as a pair of bullets ricocheted off of its armor-like scales and turns to the source, Lincoln.

***Guuahh*** The monstrosity growls as it gets on all-fours and lowers itself closer to the ground, Lincoln knows what's coming and bends his knees into a slightly crouching position.

The creature lunges at Lincoln with its maw open and left arm rearing back for a swipe.

Lincoln, as if he'd preformed this hundreds of times, sprawled onto the earth beneath him and aimed his gun at the exposed underbelly and shot twice, the bullets pierce its chest, the monster flew over Lincoln and on to the ground as it writhes in pained groans holding onto its chest wounds.

Lincoln gets off the ground, puts his gun away, re-sheaths his knife and unclasps his shoulder strap, revealing his pump-action shotgun.

He cocks his gun and takes aim at the beast's chest as it tries to reach for Lincoln's gun.

***BLAM*** A fiery burst of shrapnel fly from the shotgun and tear through the hideous monster's torso, hitting vitals and taking off chunks of slightly burnt flesh.

The beast slumped over dead and Lincoln made his way back to his duffle bag, he digs in and pulls out a long fireman's axe, it looks used, the grip a little worn and the axe head splattered and stained with layers of dried blood.

He makes his way towards the fallen creature reeling back his axe with both arms and slams it over the beast's head.

*****Shunk Slish Splursh***** It took three swings but Lincoln took its head off and leaves.

"Sigh, why do you bother taking off the head if you're just going to leave it along with the body?" Lucy asked with a bored expression. "Why not just leave it be?"

"Lucy, you remember when we kept doing that years ago, some of them got back on their feet and followed us for a chance to even the score or moved on and hurt someone else."

"Sigh, I do."

"That's why I double tap, no need to worry if they'll come back and follow us."

"You think we should bring it to the next town, maybe there's a reward." Lucy followed up.

"Doesn't work that way Luce, gotta take the job first or bring it to places controlled by the 'dupes' or maybe militia. No telling if it'll be just a waste of space or even worth it if they don't know us."

"Sigh" Lucy looks down, "Do you think we'll make it to the next town tomorrow?"

"Maybe, that depends if anything gets in our way before then and besides I think a better question would be 'if the next town is even standing'?" Lincoln somberly voices his thoughts.

"If it is, I hope they have a clothing store, my bra's getting really tight."

"Jeez again, just how big are those gonna get Luce?" _'Damn, they're so big already, her hips are getting curvier by the day and her ass looks so- No, focus Lincoln!'_

"Sigh, one is not meant to know the extent of their blessings OR curses until they reach their apex, but I suppose this is getting I bit too much." She says turning around to readjust her bra.

Lincoln looks on and just stares, he sees Lucy lean forward trying to get a grip on her bra and shift her breasts, his eyes travel down to her rear, such volume, so alluring and an outline of her ass hugging panties, _'I wonder what color they are today?' _He thinks to himself.

_ 'I can feel your lecherous gaze Lincoln, I know what you want, what you need but you'll have to wait a while longer and this time nothing will hold me back.'_ She thought with her lips curved into a small smile.

She finishes and sees a shadow move in the distance.

_'Wait'_ She thinks, _'No, it can't be'._

"Sigh, Lincoln what are the chances of a pack of Deathclaws wandering an open town?" She asks with a firm tone as she slips off her backpack and grabs two pistols.

"About as likely for just one to wonder in an open town alone but that could explain why no one's around, not even bodies, a pack of them wouldn't leave a scrap." He said with clear worry as he sees the shadow of a building with a figure looking over.

Lincoln turns upward to see another Deathclaw and this one was a dull yellow as it roars out and out of the woodwork three leap down from buildings as they hear a familiar thumping sound and from around another building, the biggest Deathclaw they ever saw stalked its way towards its pack.

The three lesser Deathclaws were made of the yellow one at about 8' even, a red one at about 9' and a half feet and a brown one at about 8'10".

The alpha, their leader it seems was a bright green in color and over 12' in height, this one was different in appearance too, it was riddled with scars; bullet marks over its non-armored chest area, slash marks on its upper body and face, it was missing its left eye and tail, and lastly its left arm was like the others but its right arm was larger, had three digits and the claws had elongated nails that looked like they could pierce cinderblocks.

"SHIT!" Lincoln angrily shouts as the grip on his axe tightened.

The alpha raised its left arm pointing to our trio and lets out a quick grunt as the others charge forward. Lincoln sees two charge Lisa and Salem, the yellow and brown, so he takes out his pistol with his left hand and aims for the brown one.

***BANG*** He aims true and hits his target, Brown's left eye, it howls in agony as Lincoln turns his head and ducks as a red claw swung over his head, he takes a few steps back to see Red raise both arms readying to slam them downwards and Lincoln takes aim.

***BANG BANG BANG** click click***** Lincoln unloaded the remainder of his clip into Red's chest and watched it doubled over in pain. Blood was pouring from its wounds as it got onto its knees and held its chest, Lincoln was going to finish it when he saw the Brown race towards him.

"Shit!" Was what Lincoln said as he readied himself.

-**Lucy & Salem**-

-Earlier-

Lucy had two Deathclaws rushing to her and Salem, she needed to focus on one but saw a bullet pierce Brown's eye.

_'Thank you Lincoln.'_ Lucy aimed her dual pistols at Yellow and proceeded to empty her clips onto her opponent.

Yellow had raised one of its arms to defend its weak spot as the flurry of bullets bounced off the majority of its armored scales, only a few managed to hit its underbelly but nowhere vital, It kept charging Lucy as she and Salem made their retreat.

Lucy wasn't much of a runner but she needed distance and took cover around another building and started rifling through her backpack. She pulled out her sawed-off shot gun and checked it for two whole shells.

"Good, I've got-"

***BAM!** Crunch***** Pieces of the building she used for cover blew apart from the impact of Yellow's fist, knocking Lucy away from her backpack in the process.

Lucy skid across pavement with her dress tearing up to her waist, her stockings ripped and felt something wet drip from her nose, she touched it to see blood on her fingertips and Salem carefully walks behind Lucy.

"Sigh, REALLY?" A rarity but still an occurrence to happen on occasion, Lucy was pissed.

*****Sniff***** She wipes her nose with her wrist and as Yellow came to charge her, she holds her hand up and like a marionette, Yellow's hunched over body stiffened and contorted itself into a straightened stance as both of its arms were raised exposing its vulnerable chest, Lucy stands up and calmly walks to Yellow, aims her shotgun at its chest point blank and pulls the trigger.

***BLAM*** The shot was enough to shred and carve out Yellow's chest cavity causing the beast to roar in sheer torture as the blood that should've spattered onto Lucy hits an invisible wall. Lucy takes aim again in the same spot driving her gun deeper into Yellows wounds.

***BLAM*** The second shot caused Yellow to slump over in silence but is somehow still standing. Lucy lets out a breath and lowers her arm, the Deathclaw's corpse falls over and the droplets of its blood fall to the floor.

Lucy begins to walk away but turns back to Yellow's body.

"Sigh, Lincoln, how your words always seem pierce my very being and makes me act accordingly still eludes me." She solemnly whispers as she raises her left hand again and slowly forms a fist as Yellow's head begins to cave in on itself, blood spills out and all that remains is a deformed ball of dark yellow and red flesh.

"You can come out now Salem, I'm not mad anymore." She voices out loud and her shadow darkens as glowing yellow eyes peek from within, a mass of shadow then jumps from Lucy's shadow and onto the ground as it takes form, a cat, Salem.

*****mew***** Salem looked at Lucy with such wide and sparkling yellow eyes like she was pleading with Lucy.

"No Salem, I haven't forgotten, I was just upset, it happened in the heat of battling for my life."

*****Meow*****

"No I'm not making excuses, I know how important it is to blend in when we see normal people, 'to which leaving a psychic trail of death is an easy way for others to find out you're a mutant' I know Salem, I know."

"…", Salem stares at Lucy.

"…", Lucy stares back.

"…"

"Sigh, alright you- ***BLAM* *Gaaaaah***, *****GASP***** Lincoln, come on let's go Salem!"

Lucy snatches her backpack and runs off to see Lincoln surrounded by the dead bodies of Brown and Red, pinned down by the 'normal' arm of the green alpha and using both hands to keep the mangled, razored claw from reaching him.

-**Back With Lincoln**-

-Earlier-

Red was on its knees and Brown was rushing over to Lincoln with its left eye bleeding profusely. Lincoln was stepping away from red to give himself room as Brown was about to pounce on him, Lincoln rolled out of the way and as Brown's hands were on the ground Lincoln swiped at Browns leg aiming for its left knee.

*****Shlish***** Lincoln slices into Browns knee and it tries to limp away as Lincoln raises his axe once more only to be picked up and thrown towards a wrecked building, Lincoln smashes into the brick structure as his back left a crater into it, Lincoln gets up and sees Red back on its feet charging at Lincoln, winding its arm back.

Lincoln rolls past Red's fist leading it to hit the building, breaking a sizable hole into the building. Lincoln looks back to his bags and to Brown limping towards Lincoln, _'No, not worth it'_ he thinks to himself looking to see if he should go for his gear.

Lincoln ducks as a familiar red claw tried to take his head from behind. Lincoln rolls away as Brown is catching up and red sprints to Lincoln with its arms held up intending to crush Lincoln.

"Perfect" Lincoln's mouth turns into a wicked smile as he pulls his axe behind his head with both hands and in a snap he launches it, his axe embedding itself into Red's unguarded chest.

***Aaauugh*** Was all Red could get out as Lincoln runs to Red, faster than the creature could react Lincoln takes hold of his axe and drags it downwards and before Red could grab onto Lincoln he yanks his weapon out of the beast, intestines spilling out, bloody meat chunks flooding out of Red as it falls over, it's chest rapidly rising only to settle, completely still, dead.

"One down" He looks to Brown still hobbling to Lincoln, he wants to finish it and tries to do what he did to Red, he pulls his axe back and launches it only for it to be caught in Brown's right forearm scales.

"Crap" Lincoln wanted to slap himself for not waiting, _'Of all the stupid, Lincoln pull yourself together'_, he thinks as he unsheathes his knife, Lincoln runs to Brown in blinding speed and before Brown could react, Lincoln stabs his blade into Brown's stomach and drags it across, disemboweling it but Brown's intestines don't spill out and takes the chance to grab Lincoln by the arm and throw him onto the pavement.

The force of Brown's attack cause Lincoln to cave in to ground with a man sized crater, Lincoln rolls out of it only to be backhanded or attempted as he caught Brown's left arm and held it in place.

Lincoln stomps his left foot into the ground leaving an imprint and yanks on Brown's arm as it tried to pull it back, a big mistake.

***SNAP! CRUNCH!*** The sound had alerted Lincoln that Brown's arm just couldn't hold up, Lincoln lets go to see bone breaking the 'skin', 'scales' or whatever you'd call it, Brown was suffering, the trauma it's experiencing was probably the first in its unnatural existence but it wouldn't be made to suffer any longer curtesy of Lincoln bringing out his shotgun.

Lincoln cocks it and aims for the face. ***BLAM*** Brown slumps over twitching as half of its face meat was stripped and torn apart. Lincoln cocks it again with eyes narrowed, ***BLAM*** Brown stops moving and Lincoln lets out a breath.

Suddenly his eyes snap open and ducks, he feels the wind move above his head but saw nothing, he gets another feeling and rolls to his left as something big impacts the ground and kicks up dirt and in the dust cloud, he sees an outline of another deathclaw.

"Wait, what!" '_Is that big one invisible, I didn't know it could do that, how did it sneak up behind me, I would've felt it, it's not a lightweight.'_

Lincoln's thought raced but soon focused, he needed to take care of this quick and help Lucy, _'not that she needs any,'_ Lincoln sprints to the alpha like he tried Brown but saw that Green was prepared and wildly swung its malformed claw arm in a half circular radius, Lincoln jumped back and knew it wasn't going to fall for anything the others fell to.

This thing was big, normal deathclaws can weigh nearly a ton and this one was massive, what does that say about the amount of damage it could do and to know it could become invisible, to a normal person this would be an impossible kill, but Lincoln was anything but normal.

With the dust cloud settling Lincoln knew he wouldn't be able to see Green, so he closes his eyes and tries to get a feel for it, in the darkness of Lincoln's mind he can accurately feel Green, slowly creeping up to Lincoln's side, he swiftly spun on his heel, faced Green and cocks his gun, pointing it at Green's lower body.

"Gotcha" ***BLAM* *Gaaaaah*** Green reveals itself, while bleeding and groaning it pushes past the pain to slap the shotgun away from Lincoln's grasp and grabs Lincoln's torso to slam him down and pin him to the ground.

Green takes its deformed right claw hand and stabs it down in an attempt to puncture Lincoln's head only for Lincoln to hold onto two of its three digits and bend them backwards with a sickening crack.

The green monster is growling in pain but continues to drive in its claw onto its prey and as the final claw gets closer to Lincoln's neck, his eyes begin to glow golden and causes Green to open its only eye widely but narrows and press on anyway.

_ 'Okay enough fucking around Lincoln, finish it, you know you could've ended this the moment they reared their ugly faces in!' _He angrily shouts to himself.

"Lincoln!" His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of Lucy calling out his name. She holds out her hand as her eyes shine with the intensity and ferocity of an erupting star.

The alpha Deathclaw's misshaped arm abruptly snaps in two with a loud and painful echo. It immediately leapt off of Lincoln to run away but found itself was being dragged back by an invisible force.

***SIGH*** "Lucy, I thought we agreed-no, not now." He says while appreciative of Lucy's 'rescue', they couldn't afford to make a show of it.

Lincoln looks back to the alpha as he got up to his feet and makes his way to Green who was being held in place, Lucy flatly faces her palm towards the ground and Green was forced on its hands and knees and was pinned as if gravity had increased upon it one-thousand fold.

Lincoln then came face to face with Green as it let out one last desperate roar, ***Reeeeeeaaah*** blowing Lincoln's hair as he grabs Greens head by the horns and rapidly twists and snaps its neck in three points, each break sounding an echo that carried into the winds.

As Green fell to the floor, Lincoln grabbed its head and jaw then proceeded to rip the top portion of its skull from the rest of its body. Lincoln stares on in disgust as blood pools from both ends of the alpha's head, proceeded to do the same with Red and then looks to Lucy.

"Are you alright Lincoln?" She asks with worry and a hint of fear.

"I'm fine, and I suppose things worked out for you on your end as well." He stated rather than asked.

"Yes, I even 'doubled tapped' like you said."

"Luce, you remember when we agreed until we got past the border we wouldn't 'broadcast' our powers, right?" He asked while grabbing his shotgun and making his way to his axe.

"I do but why should we be concerned with that right now, we were alone with what five Deathclaws roaming around, I very much doubt anyone would be crazy enough to knowingly venture out into these parts."

"The point was if anyone else saw, word could get back to their groups or settlements and you know not every place is big on 'mutants', we need to keep it on the down low if we want to make it through the border." He said starting to get a little angry.

"And that's well and good until it gets you killed Lincoln, for god sake you could've taken that thing down with your eyes closed and both arms tied behind your back but there you were pinned down with it hovering over you! Back in Nevada you could've-no you would have fried that thing the moment you saw it and we wouldn't need to separate or run!" She started yelling.

"Well you know what, I- ***MEOW! MEW!*** *****Sigh***** I'm sorry Luce, you're right, it's just, I want to get us, to get you out of this mess and finally go home together and I feel like we're only halfway there and that there'll be someone or something that's gonna want to get in our way, I don't want that chance taken from us, I'm sorry." He said looking down and saw Salem brushing against his boot.

"Sigh, I'm sorry too Lincoln and you're right, we should be careful so nothing may jeopardize our only way back home." Lucy said brushing and parting her hair showing her whole face briefly.

_'God you're beautiful Lucy'_ She blushes slightly as he makes his way to her and envelops her in a tight hug, she blushes an even deeper red as she wraps her arms around him.

_ 'Sigh, I can't seem to stay mad at you Lincoln, those invisible threads that bind us compel us to argue as much as we love one another but we get past it, we always do.'_

They break the hug as Lincoln goes back for his stuff and notice the sunset has fallen into night. After a brief discussion they agree to set up in the least ruined building and camp for the evening, a few floors up in a random housing unit after inspecting the entire building found it clear and 'safe', they picked a nice and empty room with a window that's relatively clean and set up.

Two sets of sleeping bags and a plastic lantern, Lincoln volunteers for the first shift and keeps an eye out as Lucy begins changing out of her torn dress.

"What happened there Luce, I thought your force fields didn't even let dirt touch you?" Lincoln asked

"The yellow one caught me off guard" She grumbled, _'I wish Leni were around, she wouldn't let a minor inconvenience keep her from wearing what she likes but alas I was not blessed with the skills to weave or sew fabric like her.'_

"I see, maybe we can get someone to take a look at it when we reach town, I know how hard it is to find something you like."

"Thank you Lincoln, I'll be sure to look around when we get there." She says as she rummages through Lincoln's backpack for spare clothes, _'Not the best time to travel light and the worst time to outgrow all your old garments, Sigh.'_

She pulls out a feminine pair of blue jeans and a long sleeved black shirt, Salem stretches herself out on Lucy's sleeping bag then lies down.

_ 'This'll do for now, I hate squeezing into pants, they're so constricting'_ She thinks as she removes her dress.

Lincoln briefly looks back only for his attention to be caught on Lucy's semi-nude form, _'She's right, she is growing out of her bra and they're white today'_, then his eyes went lower, _'They both are'_, her underwear really shows off her curves and seeing her struggling to get her rear into her jeans have indefinitely caught Lincoln's gaze.

Lucy had been wrestling to get her big, round butt in those jeans and momentarily stopped as she felt Lincoln eyes on her, _'I know you're staring Lincoln, that's good, maybe I can have fun with this.'_ She thought to herself as she thinks of the perfect way to tortu-err tease Lincoln, by putting on a show.

Lucy had begun moaning softly to herself as she starts to wiggle and gyrate her hips in a circular motion as Lincoln's eyes widen. Lucy then starts to raise and lower her hips rapidly and finally she gets on her knees, leans forward and yanks her pants over her ass in three powerful strokes moaning for each of them.

_'Dammit, she knows what she's doing to me, settle down boy, this isn't the time.' _He says looking to the bulge on his pants and turns back to the window just to miss Lucy look back at him.

_'I hope you enjoyed the show Lincoln, I want you to think long and hard about it and maybe if you ask nicely I might be willing to give you an even longer one.' _Her thoughts and blush betrays her expressionless face.

Some time has passed as Lincoln sees Lucy's chest rise and fall in a pattern that told him she was asleep. He turns to the audience, something he's been known to do before.

"Oh hey, guess it's been a while since we've spoken and I bet you're wondering what's going on and what happened since the last time you saw me. Well it's kind of a long story that starts with a family meeting, lets recap."

**END**

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**[AN: Maybe it's because of my weeb-vision that I've developed watching anime over the years but I can't help but see everything I write or read on fanfiction in anime form, when I picture 'my' Lincoln, he looks and is built like Terra-Xehanort with hair like near from Death Note and when I see 'my' Lucy I see a raven-haired Saeko Busujima from Highschool of the Dead, currently I'm wondering if it would be better or dumber to include that, eh]**


	2. Chapter 1

**[Anyone enjoying so far, maybe too soon to ask but I'm curious]**

**[Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or anything really]**

Posted 9/9/19

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-Chapter 1-

"So for a school assignment, I was supposed to retell the story of my birth and early childhood, just one problem, I couldn't find my baby books, I went through everyone else's but couldn't find mine, so I went to my parents but something weird happened."

~XxX Flashback XxX~

"…" Rita stares blankly into the void, past where her 11 year old son was standing.

"…" Lynn SR's wide eyes looking back and forth from Lincoln to his wife Rita.

"Uh, mom, dad, what's wrong?"

"Well, y'see son, uhh-" His father stammered.

"FAMILY MEETING! Girls, down stairs now!" Rita yelled upstairs frightening both her husband and son.

-**_XxX_**-

In the living room, Lincoln sat in the middle of the couch with his parents standing behind the coffee table. One by one his sisters come down, first Lori and Leni.

"Like o-m-gosh mom, what's wrong, did we run out of shampoo, *****GASP***** did they discontinue 'Belle Fille' #15, oh no!"

"No Leni, I'm sure that's not it." Lori, the eldest reassures her not paying attention while texting her boyfriend Bobby and takes a seat at the far end to Lincoln's left.

"Oh that's a relief, disaster averted, bye." Leni begins walking up the steps.

"Leni honey come back down, we still have a family meeting." Her mother beckons her.

"Oh, right." Leni rushes back down and plops right onto Lincoln's right, "Hi Linky, you here for the meeting too!?" She asks excitedly.

"Uh, yeah, actually I think I caused this meeting." He says as Lori looks up with her eyebrows furrowing.

"What did you do this time twerp?" She asks mildly upset, what did her annoying little brother do to get them all wrapped into a meeting.

"I just asked about my baby pictures and what happened when I was born." This got his sisters' attention.

Leni gasps and looks over to Lori to see her eyes bugging out as they both look to their parents just to see them look to each other and nod back to the girls.

"Uh guys, what's going on?" Lincoln asks getting worried, fearing the worst he looks to Leni, he knows she wouldn't lie to him.

"Leni, what's up with everybody?" He asks looking into her eyes as hers water and she turns away.

"I'm sorry Linky, I can't." Leni says before clasping her hands over her mouth, all without turning back to him as Lori chimes in.

"Let's just wait for everyone else Lincoln, alright." She says trying to calm her brother when suddenly-

"Yo, what's the haps fam!" roared Luna, the rock star of the Louds.

Everyone just stares at Luna.

"Woah guys, are you feeling alright?" Luna asks as her roommate, the comedian walks down with baby Lily in her arms.

"Aww, looks like we're late to the 'stair-ing' contest huh Lily, hahaha get it?" She asks as Luna and Lily groan but looks back to the rest of her family, silence, "Okay not my best one but I thought I'd at least get a reaction…what's with this audience?" She whispered that last bit to Luna who could only offer a shrug.

"Dunno sis, they're as quiet as a church mouse." She looks to Lincoln, her favorite groupie, "Yo bro, what's happenin' luv, haven't seen everyone this quiet since pop-star got caught trying to smuggle those doughnut burgers."

"That was a scary afternoon." Her dad muttered.

"Yeah this happened when I asked what was going on when I was born." And like before his older sisters making their way to the couch stiffened and their eyes bulged as they looked back to the rest of their family, their parents nodded to them before Lori speaks up.

"Lincoln's been asking about 'that', we're waiting for everyone, so take a seat." The eldest softly commanded her two younger siblings, Luan took the open space next to Leni and softly bounced Lily who seemed to be enjoying the game as Luna gets behind Lincoln and wraps her arms around his neck in a warm embrace over the couch.

"We'll get through this I swear, we're here for you bro." Luna whispers as Lincoln's heart begins racing, he feels this can't be good, nothing good could possibly come from this atmosphere.

There is complete silence, only the ticking of a clock be heard, to everyone else, it was negligible, to Lincoln, each and every tic was herald with a monstrous thumping, an endless ringing that resonated with Lincoln's own erratic heart beats, sort of like the beginning of an orchestra, 'tic, tic, BOOM, tic, tic, BOOM.

Lincoln tried using that to take his mind of things but he soon came out of the confines of his own imagination when he and his family looked to the ceiling as they began hearing roaring footsteps as if someone was sprinting towards the top of the stairs.

"AND SHE CROSSES THE FINISH LINE!" Howled Lynn jr as she hopped down the stairs in a single bound.

"LYNN JR what have I told you about jumping from the stairs young lady!" Her mother yelled

"Sorry mom, 'sup pops." Lynn calls out as she takes the empty space between Lincoln and Lori.

"Hey L.J"

"So what's this about anyway?" Lynn asked to be answered by an ominous voice

"Apparently Lincoln, *****Ahh!***** has been asking questions and that has led to the meeting now." Came the monotonous voice of Lucy.

"Jeez Lucy we really need to put a bell on you!" Shrieked Lynn, "Also where did you come from?"

"I was already down here, I was performing a séance in the basement when the spirits told me I needed to be here now." She answered while squeezing herself between Lynn and Lincoln.

"Yes the supposhed invishible forshes that you bashe your decision making upon sheventh eldest shibling, greeting parental unitsh, to what may I inquire this congregation's shubject?" Lisa, the residential genius asked politely in her usual way only to be answered with silence.

Everyone just stared at her as she pinched the bridge of her nose and readjust her glasses.

*****Sigh***** "What ish thish meeting about, *****OHH!***** honestly you nitwitsh." She complained to herself while sitting at the foot of the couch and did some calculations not even bothering to look up.

The parents do a head count and noticed they were missing a pair.

"Lana, Lola, please come down now." Voiced the loud patriarch

"MOM, TELL LANA TO GIVE ME MY TIARA!" Erupted the voice of Lola

"NOT UNTIL SHE PUTS HOPS DOWN!" Wailed Lana, her twin

Sound of the two fighting could be heard upstairs as Rita looked just about ready to lose it until Lynn SR came to the rescue.

"Girls if you're not down here in the next five seconds you're both grounded indefinitely!"

This ceased the fighting as the pitter patter of their footsteps were heard rushing down the stairs, Lana the resident mechanic sliding down the handrail as Lola strides down in her usual manner befitting of her inflated ego.

Lana sits on the floor before the couch in front of Leni and when Lola makes it to the couch she looks at the crowded sofa couch and just rolls her eyes.

*****Hmph***** "And just where am I supposed to-"

"Oh for the love of, here." Lynn gets up and moves over the Lori's side of the couch and leans on its arm, "Happy?"

"Ecstatic." Lola said flatly as she takes her seat, the pets made their way and perched themselves in a pile and then Rita starts.

"Alright now that everyone's here, the reason I called this meeting is because your brother Lincoln has asked a very important question and-" She begins as she is interrupted by Lynn.

"OH great what did he do this time-" Then Lori intrudes.

"Enough Lynn, don't interrupt, go on mom."

"Thank you, now as I was saying, your brother wanted to know what happened when he was born, so now I, uh we felt it's time to tell you all." She takes a moment to breathe as Lynn jr speaks up once more.

"What do you mean, you just had a baby right, everyone knows that." Lynn stated just as Luna squeezed Lincoln harder making his chest pound even faster.

"No, actually." Their mother says, catching everyone off guard, everyone except Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan and Lisa apparently.

"Wait What?" Squawked both Lincoln and Lynn.

"Lincoln is… adopted." She says as the older girls looked away and Lynn speaks up.

"How, I would've known if Lincoln wasn't really my brother!" She says as Lincoln sinks down hearing those words.

"Because you were too young to remember junior." The father softly tells her, looking to his wife, "Do you want me to-"

"No, I can do this." Rita takes a moment to inhale then exhale and she begins.

"It started a few months after Lynn was born, to no one's surprise I was pregnant again but after…"

"Hun, you don't have to say it." Her husband tries to comfort her as she puts a hand up.

"There was an accident and..." Her younger girls flinched at this point they knew what she was going to say next.

"I had a miscarriage, our baby didn't make it and about a year went by before we were even comfortable with the idea of bringing another child into this world." A tear rolls down her eye as her husband holds her and continues for her.

"But we still wanted a big family, we argued for some time, how we were going to do that and when, eventually we came to the decision to adopt."

Everybody was listening intently but no one saw the look on Lincoln's face, the realization of where this might lead, the sheer terror of what might come of this, the complete and total sense of despair and isolation.

"Thankfully there was an agency that could handle this sort of thing." His father went on just as Lisa interjects.

"Excushe me a moment, while I don't doubt the coursh of eventsh ash you have told, from the time frame before Lincoln'sh adoption, it would have been mere monthsh after you decided to adopt, I find that mosht unlikely, care to explain father unit?"

"Oh yeah, back in '04' it was pretty easy for two straight Caucasians with two income sources to pick out a kid and bring them home, heh, you could pretty much take them off the street back then, a few months was cake walk compared to today's requirements for adoption approval, anything else Lisa?"

"For now no, pleash carry on."

"We went through at least four different foster homes but nothing seemed right, the kids were fine but none of them felt like a good fit, like we were trying to replace the child we lost with one at the age they would've been. That just kept bringing us back to square one, eventually we chose to stop looking and just enjoy our time home with you girls." He gestured to his five eldest before his wife picked up where he left off.

"And then your grandfather had his accident a few weeks after Lynn's second birthday. While visiting the hospital a few towns over, I had to use the restroom but most of them were closed for maintenance, the closest one available was in the maternity ward. It was… difficult making my way there and I know I could've gone somewhere else but I felt that I needed to do it, that I had to let go of those feelings and it was hard but I did make it through.

Then I heard crying, I felt my heart break so bad that I almost ran away only to bump into an officer holding a crying baby boy. I could've walked away but I saw that he wasn't used to holding infants and against every fiber of my being telling me to go, I walked right up to the man, Officer Lincoln Brown."

This caught her children's attention, usually as per the unspoken naming 'rule' in the loud house each child's name started with the letter L and had four letters.

"He was tall, black, had dark hair, was balding and a thick mustache, I asked if he needed help and he couldn't hand me the baby fast enough, for a moment it felt like he handed me bricks instead of a person… until I got a look at his cherub face and he calmed right down, it was like I fell in love all over again and I felt myself melting, then I asked why the officer was holding the baby and where were his parents?"

Lincoln's Heart was racing as he had a bad feeling where this was going.

"He told me that he found 'baby John Doe' on a park bench alone, and that he had been coming every day after for the last three days hoping to run into his family. He said that eventually they'd have to put him into foster care but being a newborn, he'd stay in the hospital for quite a while." She paused, happily remembering the encounter with the child as the Loud patriarch went on in his wife's place.

"That's when I found your mom, she was gone for almost an hour before I came to look for her and when I saw the baby she was holding I just knew things would be alright with us and after seeing your mother's face I could see what she was thinking or so I thought, what I wasn't ready to hear was your mother tell me 'let's take this baby', man that was… a crazy 5 minutes." He said rubbing the back of his head, chuckling to himself as he heard Rita laughing.

"HAHA don't remind me, you kept trying to talk me out of 'stealing babies from hospitals', ha, you kids should've seen Officer Brown's face I swear he aged 10 years in 10 seconds.

But after that confusing mess sort itself out, Officer Brown told us that 'the moment John Doe went into foster care was the moment he was up for grabs' and that in the meantime his precinct was still searching for the parents."

Leni asked, "Wait, like what happened to baby Johnathan then?" Everyone deadpanned but this was Leni so they eased up and let their parents continue.

"Well Leni, your father and I were about to go say good bye to your grandfather when Officer Brown asked me to return the baby, oh I was so embarrassed, to think I was about to walk away with him too. That's when we saw the accompanying nurse who took off 'John Doe's' baby cap to reveal a tuft of white hair, and I knew we had to have him, he was just too beautiful to forget." Rita said practically swooning at the memory.

*****GASP***** "Johnathan Doe was Linky all along, isn't that amazing you guys?" Leni asked as the rest of her siblings silently sat straight-faced, all but Lincoln.

"About three months had passed and after a ton of paper work including naming 'John Doe' we brought 'Lincoln Loud' home, the girls were so excited to meet him and we let Luna hold him first."

Luna's grip on Lincoln had started getting even tighter as she could feel him trembling. It was another sort of tradition the Louds had, 'who got to hold whom first', Lori had gotten to hold Luan when she was 3, Leni held Lynn was she was 3, Luna held Lincoln when she was 4, Luan held Lucy when she was 6, Lynn held the twins when she was 7, Lincoln held Lisa when he was 7 and finally Lucy held Lily when she was 7.

"And the rest is history, so any questions?" Rita had asked after ending her retelling of how 'Lincoln Loud came to be' just as Lola raised her hand.

"Yes sweetie?"

"Does this mean Lincoln's not my big brother anymore?" She asked almost sounding worried but all Lincoln could hear was 'not my big brother'.

"Oh, of course-" Rita tried to answer only to be cut off by Lisa.

"Technically the proper term would be shtep-brother, sheeing ash he hash no blood relation to ush, that would make Lincoln our shtep-brother or orphan-brother in old English originating from Germany." She said unemotionally.

"Well you don't have to say it like that Lis'." Spoke Lana and Lori added on.

"You seem literally unfazed by this Lisa, I would've thought you'd at least shown some interest."

"I might've been had I not already dishcovered thish shome time ago." She said as everyone turned to her wide eyed.

"Are you telling me that in all the time you've known me to acquire genetic shamples and run numeroush teshtsh I wash shupposhed to believe Lincoln was really related to us, there are far too many genetic variationsh and markersh to indicate that Lincoln washn't related to ush and not to mention hish traitsh, I mean just look at him, he doeshn't even reshemble either of our shared biological parental unitsh." Lisa finishes in her usual lateral lisp as most of the girls' eyes furrow in anger.

"Dude, harsh!" Luna says as she lets go of Lincoln.

"Agreed, even the spirits make no distinction of blood when they watch over us." Came forth the dreary voice of Lucy, starting to become irked.

"So not helping poindexter!" Followed by Lynn.

"Not funny Lis'!" Voiced Luan.

"Totes!" Leni agreed.

"Did they ever find them?" Everyone froze before the soul-crushed tone of Lincoln.

No one dared to speak up, all the family could see was his shaking form. Luna tried to comfort Lincoln only for him to get off his seat.

"Did they ever find them?" He asked again as his father was the one to answer.

"No, no they didn't Lincoln and I'm sorry, I can't possibly understand what you must be feeling right now." The Loud patriarch tried to calm his son knowing what might've come after hearing the details surrounding his 'origins'.

"I don't know what to feel, I just found out that I'm not really a Loud!"

"C'mon Lincoln you know that's not true, you shouldn't feel 'orphan-ded', heh, get it." Silence, "Okay bad timing I know." Luan awkwardly laughed to herself.

"Luan, now's literally not the time for that and Lincoln I get it, I really do." Lori chastised Luan.

"Get what, that you know your parents didn't even want you!" He said with hot tears rolling down his face. "That you were left on a park bench because they couldn't care less."

"While I'm sure that could be a poshiblility, itsh alsho worth noting that they could be deceased or maybe even-mphm" She didn't get to finish that thought as Luna covered her mouth.

"Seriously dude, you gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em, you're not helping."

Luna looks back to see a white and orange blur flash by her and upstairs in speeds that would make Lynn envious.

"Nice job Lis'!" Said Lynn, "Jeez, he really can move when he wants to, huh." She said as the door to his room slams and the rest is followed by silence.

-XxX Reality Break XxX-

"Yeah, I didn't react well and if it's any consolation, I knew Lisa wasn't trying to be mean or insensitive, she was just seeing the logical side to it, she doesn't do the whole emotional thing.

Where was I, oh yeah, so I ran up to my room and I really didn't want to see anyone but I didn't have a lock on my door so I propped it closed with my desk chair. One by one everyone came to try to coax me out I guess, all the while I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to even listen to them meanwhile I was crying myself to sleep. I didn't eat dinner and I didn't leave my room in the morning, thank God it was Saturday, don't know how I'd react to them trying to get me to go to school after what I heard.

In case you're wondering, no, I didn't find out anything about my supposed 'parents' since then, 'snot like need 'em now but anyway, back to the story."

-XxX Back to the Flashback XxX-

Saturday afternoon, officially 24 hours since Lincoln learned of his adoption and he still hasn't talked to anyone, almost everyone had left except for 3 who opted to spend their day indoors to 'keep an eye on Lincoln', Luan, Lucy and Lisa.

Lucy had occasionally read heartwarming poetry written for families to try and shake things up even though she expresses how much it kills her inside to read such nauseatingly happy words, _'Even still, they are the only words that accurately sum up my feelings for you'_ but she was only greeted with silence and so she walks away.

Lisa periodically checks the door camera's, she doesn't have them in her families bedrooms, even she can respect the need for an individual's privacy but she can't seem to catch Lincoln leaving, _'You have to come out sometime to use the facilities brother unit of mine, I must make my words clear to you so you may see that I meant no ill-will towards you'_ she thought checking the cameras again.

Lincoln lays sprawled on top of his bed, staring at his sealing, no thoughts passing in his clouded mind all he can feel is emptiness, like a numbing sensation freezes his limbs as his eyes close once more and all he can see is the darkness.

He breathes slowly and listens to the rhythmic metronome that is his heart beat, it soothes him, lulls him into safety and comfort even if just for a moment.

_ 'Why doesn't it hurt anymore, am I past it or- No, why should I care, whoever made me, left me, they didn't look for me, did they?'_ He asked himself as new tears built up

_ 'It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.'_ He chants to himself, _'So why does it bother me so much?'_

Suddenly a knock on the door alerts him and has him sit up.

"Ahh, ooph" He tries to get off of his bed only for an electric, stabbing feeling to take hold of his legs and feet. _'Guess that's what happens when you sit still for hours just moping around.'_

Lincoln rubs his legs trying to relieve his lower body when he hears a voice.

"Knock, Knock" Came the voice of Luan.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Uh, this is normally the part where you say who's there…Lincoln I know you're up, I heard you moving in there."

_ 'Just go away, please.'_ Lincoln thinks as he tries not to look at the door.

"C'mon, I got the most 'egg-celent' breakfast buster."

"…"

*****Cough***** "Uh, I figured we could eat together or maybe watch a movie, y'know have our own little 'breakfast club', cause we're 'butter together'.

"…"

"Look I know you're having an 'egg-sistentual' crisis but you have to know I love you 'a waffle lot' Linky."

"…"

"C'mon Lincoln, you're 'bacon my heart' right now and I should know, 'I couldn't if I fried it', hahaha, get it?"

"…"

"Okay, y'know what I can do this all day, I got a million of 'em, served hot and fresh! So you can either open that door now, get some food and save you some trouble or starve and be the test audience for my 'breakfast special'."

"…"

"Alright then, you asked for it!" ***INHALE***

-357 Breakfast jokes later-

"… Hahaha, get it?"

"…"

"I'll admit, you're a strong one but you can't last forever." _'Man, I'm really running low on material and he still hasn't "cracked" yet, this is no "yolk", no I already did that, how does he do it?'_

Back in Lincoln's room, unknown to Luan, he is listening to smooch, his favorite rock band hoping to drown out Luan's bad jokes. _'She should really lend her talent to Guantanamo, with that kind of material she'd make a "killing with her brand of torture", get it, OH NO, now I'm doing it!'_

Back with Luan, she had just used her last breakfast related joke and was starting to spew whatever came to mind, "Hey Linc wanna hear an orphan joke, never mind, 'a-parent-ly' someone can't be bothered to listen…" *****Crash***** _'Oh god, what did you just say, you idiot can't you just- wait, maybe this'll get him out or get you a black eye, whatever, he needs you, roll those dice.'_ She thought as she looked at the tray she dropped, still intact.

"Y'know Linc, I got a bunch of orphan jokes but for the life of me, none of them seem to be hitting 'home', heh, uh, get it?" She chuckled hesitantly

-4 Orphan Jokes Later-

_ 'I can't do this anymore, I'm just making myself sad.'_ Luan thought looking down as Lincoln refused to even say anything through the door if only to get her to shut up.

"Alright Lincoln you win, I'm sorry." She apologizes as she slumps her way back into her room leaving the tray of long since cold breakfast meant for him.

Unbeknownst to Luan the door to her brother's room had opened just enough to see her walk away and quickly thrown open just long enough to snatch up the tray of food, close it and re-barricade the door.

"Thank you, Luan, I love you 'a waffle lot' too." He sad smiled as he dug in.

-**_XxX_**-

Night came to pass and just about everybody came to talk to Lincoln or at least get him to come out except strangely, his 'parents', Rita and Lynn SR came by to leave dinner after asking for him to come down, only to receive the same answer as everyone, silence.

Lori had respected his need to be alone after her first attempt, opting to talk to her precious Bobby-booboo bear and get his insight, he was definitely surprised, his own 'bro' was adopted and he couldn't be there to help.

Leni had spent the better part of the morning shopping for a new wardrobe all for Lincoln, for the time being it was the only way she knew how to express her love for her brother with his refusal to see anyone. Hoping to tempt him with a whole mess of 'in season' clothes from the fall catalog, unfortunately he wouldn't talk to her either, she left feeling useless, a terrible feeling for the most loving, passionate sister in the loud house.

Luna tried to serenade him with something soft and mellow, something completely out of character for her, then it got weird, the next song almost felt like a love song, full of want and need then as it went into more of her style the rhythm shifted into a faster, upbeat tone and fully transitioned into the electrifying pace befitting of the up and coming queen of rock and behind his door Lincoln was starting to get into it until her speakers blew out with a bang and the power cut for just a few minutes, the queen was dethroned and forced to walk in shame back to her room.

Lynn tried to give him a pep talk but she really had no idea how to cheer someone up after learning what he did and so she too retreated back to her dwelling in low spirits herself.

Lola at first asked to speak with Lincoln as nicely as she trained for in her pageants but when she was denied a response like everyone else she tried to break down the door only for her mother to step in and have Lola take a breather. Lana on the other hand actually tried to remove Lincoln's doorknob with her tools and in turn her father put a stop to it.

As the twins were in their room with their parents trying to talk the girls into giving him space as one more person went to Lincoln.

-**_XxX_**-

*****SNIFF***** "Like, nothing's ever gonna be the same with Linky, is it Lori?" Asked Leni to her roommate

"I… I don't know Leni, I don't know what I'd do if I found out I was adopted, He probably feels like he doesn't belongs in this family anymore." Lori reasoned somberly

"Like that's totes not true, Linky's always gonna be part of this family, he has to know that, right?"

"... maybe we should just give him some space and talk to him in the morning, he can't stay inside forever." Lori said confidently until

*****CREAK*****

Both girls turned and got up to peak outside their door.

-**_XxX_**-

*****Sigh***** "And I thought I was getting to him too, then me amps had to give out on me!" Luna seethed, it was like a higher being didn't want to see her succeed and Laughed at her efforts

"I know right, talk about a 'sonic boom' ha, *****sigh***** at least you didn't crack orphan jokes." Luan said so defeated as Luna spoked surprised.

"Oh, tell me you didn't luv."

"It just slipped out, after two hours of nonstop breakfast jokes it sort of just came out, then I got it in my head that maybe he'd come out if I just rolled with it and then we'd share a laugh or maybe he'd just punch me, it would've been better than not saying anything."

"You shouldn't think like that sis, you gotta love yourself if you want others to do it, though I can't imagine what he was feelin' after that."

"He probably hates me now." Luan said laying in her bottom bunk and saw Luna climb down from hers

"I know he doesn't, you'll see, and you know we could talk to him again, together this time if you want."

"I'd like that."

*****CREAK*****

"Oi, what was that?" Luna asked as they both made their way to the door.

-**_XxX_**-

"I just don't know what to say, 'hey sorry you're adopted and your parents ditched you for god knows what, but I'm here so stop moping', ugh, I just don't know what to do, what do you think Luce…, Luce… hey Lucy, I'm talking to you-"

Lynn turns over to lucy's bed only to see she wasn't there.

"Hey where'd you go?" She said to no one apparently

*****CREAK*****

Lynn turns to her open door and wonders if someone's trying their luck with Lincoln again.

"Whelp, may as well see who's out there."

-**_XxX_**-

"But how come he won't talk to us mom?" Lola asked her mother

"Because sweetie, Lincoln's going through a difficult time right now and what he needs more than anything right now is space, he needs to process." Rita offered sagely

"But who cares if he's not part of the family, neither are Charles, Cliff, Geo or Walt but we love them all the same." Said Lana.

"First, don't say that about your brother Lana, second, he's not a pet, he just found out that he wasn't born into the family and now he's feeling alone, your mother and I were prepared for this." Lynn SR stated.

"But doesn't he know that we love him, isn't that enough?" Lola asked and her father answered this time.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple Lola, we've talk to your grandpa and even the McBrides about how to tackle this kind of situation, you never really know how they'll take it, what your brother needs right now is space, like your mother said" He looked to his wife.

"Yes, your father's right girls-" Suddenly a voice cuts her off.

"To be fair, ***AHH*** I'm sure Lincoln needsh shpace but I believe he won't recover if he inshishtsh on hiding in his bedroom, parental unitsh." Lisa speaks to her parents.

"Jeez Lisa, I thought Lucy was the only one who did that!" Lola screeched.

"Apologiesh ninth eldesht shibling unit but I would like to take but a moment of our shared parental units time to clear a few concerns I have of our shtep-brother.

"Don't call him that!" Shouted Lola.

Lisa just raised an eyebrow, "Pardon?"

"Stop calling him that Lisa, I get you don't care about him but he was here longer than us so stop it!"

This was surprising to her parents and twin to be sure, normally Lola of all people in her bratty and entitled nature would probably make the argument against Lincoln, but here she is defending her brother's place in her family regardless of his relation to her, it was a good kind of strange at least to anyone who 'knows' Lola Loud.

"Oh contraire, I've known who he wash in relation to ush for over a year and never once hash it made me think of Lincoln any lesh than I do the resht of you neanderthalsh." Lisa said barely batting an eye.

"Then why do you say it like you didn't care?" asked Lana.

"Becaushe I do not care if our erythrocyte are a match or not, he is shtill my only male shibling unit and I aim to make that known to him but I cannot do that without the effortsh of the rest of our family and I intend to shtart with our parental unitsh." Lisa said as her eyes narrowed.

Lisa's glasses being to fog and then she removes them to clean and in the midst of it, her sisters and parents could see tears building.

"I shupposhe I should have been more conshiderate of Lincoln's feelings, I can only hope he'll recover from hish dilemma shooner ash apposhed to a later date… what I am trying to shay ish, I need your help to apologize to Lincoln, pleashe."

*****CREAK*****

The loud matriarch walks over to the door, "I think that was Lincoln's room."

And so the rest of them leave to investigate.

-**_XxX_**-

*****smack, smack, smack***** There was a weird knocking on Lincoln's door if you could call it that, it was quiet but just loud enough to annoy him, Lincoln was content to ignore it as he did with everyone else until he heard a voice.

"Inkin" His eyes snapped open, could it be.

"Inkin"

'_Lily?_' He asked himself as he heard a whimper on the other side of his door, quickly he removes his chair and carefully opens his door as to not make a sound and saw his baby sister Lily, holding onto her purple blankey and what appears to be a thin book.

He goes to pick up lily and asks her what she is doing here.

"tory" She says holding out the book, apparently his mom and dad were both attending to the twins as they've neglected to read Lily a bedtime story to help her find her way into the world of dreams.

"Lily I can't, I'm just not up for it, I'll get mom for you-" He stopped

*****SNIFF, HIC, SNIFF***** Lincoln could see the tears building, nearly spilling out

"Alright, alright, story time then off to bed Lily-bug." He said quickly hoping she was satisfied as he looked into her watery eyes and saw a small smile accompanied with a nod.

"Okay, let's see what you brought with you, 'The Red Thread; an adaptive folktale' alright then, get comfortable Lily." Lincoln says as he opens the book.

~XxX Reality Break XxX~

"To be honest, for the life of me I can't really remember that book very well, I do know what it was about, a king and queen from a distant land follow a red string attached to both of their pinkies and use it find an abandoned child that looks nothing like them but they take the child and raise it as their own and that's what I think happened anyway.

Oh don't look at me like that, it was a children's book from nine years ago, though to be fair it did teach me a really good lesson, funny it takes a children's book to convey a message that should've been clear to me from the get-go, home and families aren't about where you are and what's in your blood, it's about what's in your heart and my heart is with the Louds.

So anyway-"

~XxX Back to the Flashback XxX~

As Lincoln finished the story, he can only stare forward, he was lost in his own world, trying to make sense out of what he just read.

_ 'That's it huh, I'm just… here, mom and dad found me and now I'm their son. That's it, I'm just a kid they wanted, unlike… whoever made me, the Louds, my family wants me, I've just been being ridiculous, I have a place here and everyone bending over backwards trying to get me to talk is proof.'_

Lincoln looks to Lily on his bed, snuggled in her blankey, her chest rising and falling so softly and the face of pure bliss etched into his memories.

Unknown to Lincoln, 2 figures were watching and listening to the story through the vents, "Sigh, such a wondrous story, finding new love in a baby and completing a family, quite the reflection on our family is it not Fang?" Lucy whispers to her pet bat, "I promise Lincoln, though we cannot see them, I know those invisible threads of destiny led our parents to you as well as connects you to the rest of us, our fates are intertwined and you will always be a member of the Loud clan." She looks back to Lincoln as he leans over Lily.

"I guess it's time for bed for reals Lily-bug." He says as he gently scoops her into his arms and slowly walks to his door and swiftly opens it.

*****CREAK*****

He was so focused on his baby sister that he ignored the squeaky creaking from his door and made his way to Lisa/Lily's apparently open bedroom, "I guess that's how Lily got out," he shrugged as he made his way into the lab/nursery.

One half was covered in papers, in-use chemistry sets, a filled bookshelf and a large monitor, the other half was filled with baby supplies, a crib, toys, the works. Lincoln carefully placed Lily in her crib and pulled the sheets over her and her blankey as he thought out loud.

"I can't even begin to wonder if you really know what's going on or if you just magically had the answer to everything. I know I've been a real jerk to everyone huh Lily, it's just finding out that you might not have a place with the people you love more than anything was painful and the mystery of where you might come from is downright terrifying. I have to thank you, that story was just what I needed to get my head on straight, I'm here and maybe it's because I was the most interesting baby or maybe it was all good timing, who knows but I'm here, I'm a Loud, Lincoln Loud and I'm not going anywhere.

But most importantly, I owe everyone a serious apology-"

"Like, no you don't!"

"Shh" Came multiple voices

Lincoln turns to see the rest of his family outside the door, observing with caution as Leni looks like she's about to breakdown.

"How long have you guys bee-" Lincoln starts only to be cut off by Luna.

"Long enough dude, and like big sis said you don't owe us an apology, we get it, well not really but you just gave us the play by play."

Two yellow blurs glomped onto Lincoln as he looks to see the twins, tears in their eyes and eyeliner runs down Lola's face, they are quickly joined by the rest of the family minus one, Lisa.

"Ahem" The group hug was interrupted by the genius of the Louds, "If I may Lincoln, I wish to make amendsh in genuine penitence, my wordsh did not convey the Mur-" Lisa was stopped by Lincoln rushing to pick her up in his arms for a tight embrace, she was caught off guard and stammering, not knowing what to say so instead she returns the sentiment.

"I know, Lis', I know."

"AWW" Were the collective voices of the Loud women before Lincoln addressed them.

"Guys, I just want to say I'm sorry-"

"Bro, it's cool, we get it." Said Lynn as she vocalizes the same thoughts everyone else had.

"No it's not, you guys have been there for me since the beginning and here I was throwing myself a pity party while the rest of you have been trying to make me feel better, that's more than I can say for whoever I came from, I'm so sorry and I love you guys."

"And we love you Lincoln," Voiced the Loud matriarch, "And you should know, before you came along I wasn't in a good place, I'm not even sure our family would've gotten this big, *****"Or Loud!"***** haha, yes Luan, or loud until you came along Lincoln, you helped make all of this possible and I can never be more grateful."

Rita tells her only son before scooping him and Lisa in her arms and is shortly joined by the rest of her family one by one.

"You don't know what you mean to us champ." Lynn sr says firmly.

"Yeah twerp, don't ever think you don't have a place here." Lori confidently voices.

"Like, you're still my Linky, oh and we have so many new outfits for you to try on and-" Leni tries to tell Lincoln until she is stopped by Lori.

"Leni, literally take a break and just hug."

"Right on sis, and as for you dude, y'know I just can't rock on the same without my number one bro." Luna chimes in.

"I'm just happy how you 'adopted' this new outlook, haha, uh-" Luan catches herself from laughing.

"… Haha, it's okay Lu and you don't have to hold back for me, I'm cool now." Lincoln assures her.

Luan gives Lincoln an eerie smile, "You all heard him, it's fair game now."

"Good job Lincoln, you've doomed us all, but while we're on the subject, seeing how fast you made it up those stairs got me thinking I might be needing a new racing buddy and no you can't weasel your way out of it, no one out speeds Lynn-sanity in her own house, not even you little bro."

"…great."

"It warms my cold heart to know you still love us Lincoln, your very presence is the sole reason for our existence, the old spirits and benevolent deities truly did know what they were doing with you." Lucy addresses.

"Yeah yeah, enough of your spirit mumbo jumbo, Lincoln is here and he's very important to us blah, blah, blah." Said Lola

"Aww, c'mon sis, where was all that passion when you told Lisa, 'he was here longer than us,' huh?" Lana Countered

"I assure you Lincoln, I have no idea what she's referring to." Lola tried to argue

"Ish that right, ninth eldesht shilbling, well I can concur with Lana'sh allegations and teshtify her claimsh."

"Lies! Lies and slander!" Lola shouts

"Aww you don't need to lie about loving Linky, Lola, we all do." Ended Leni

And all seemed well in the Loud household and everyone knew everything would be good from that day on.

~XxX End Flashback XxX~

"But it wasn't as you can probably guess from the state of things here on my end."

**END**

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**[AN: So Lincoln's adopted also the name Lincoln Brown came from two officers I met a few weeks ago, the timing was just perfect]**


	3. Chapter 2

**[An: Yeah, this one came out a lot longer than intended, I might have gone a bit overboard, it usually takes me a week to write out and edit 5k words and this was well over 5k, I don't plan on making it a habit to reach nearly 10k, it's already a hassle to edit this but then to find more mistakes after you post it is nerve wrecking to me, it's so easy to point out another's typo or grammar error but how is it so difficult on my end, I'll never know]**

**To ****jeremiahkelley93: Thank you and I hope you continue to enjoy**

**[Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or anything really]**

Posted 9/18/19

* * *

-Chapter 2-

"Okay so I know being adopted doesn't quite explain how me and Lucy ended up in the middle of a mutant pseudo-apocalypse, but I like to think of it as a starting point for things to come.

I know I told them I was over it and things seemed to be going well, but it really wasn't something I could bounce back from, things changed for me and everyone could see it, I was going out less, staying in my room more and dressing in darker colors.

Clyde went to my sisters and we didn't do that whole surprise intervention thing they do on tv but all of them decided to take a more 'active' role in my life, like Lynn, morning jogs, free running, weight lifting, races and more wrestling, loads of fun trust me." He said oozing sarcasm.

"Lisa wanted to give me some more private tutoring, a whole 30 minutes every other day, I know that's not a lot to you guys but with Lisa that's quite a bit of her free time to give up for just one of her siblings and I'm proud to say my grades rose dramatically, I mean I already did pretty good but after, I was basically at a 4.0, pure perfection, impressive even for Lisa's former standards of myself.

Now get this, Leni and Lola both spent time with me together, Leni had me draw up plans for clothing and help fit Lola into 'her brand' for her pageantry, this got me into the 'arts' so to speak, and I was doing pretty good if I do say so myself, it started with drawing fan art of me and Ace Savvy but then I started doing some originals, I got into painting and just went to town, I even painted my bedroom door with some experimental glow in the dark paint, curtesy of Lisa and made a freakin' galaxy on my door but it didn't stop there, I moved on to my room after.

One wall had our solar system, another, quasars, pulsars and black holes, the ceiling had a bunch of constellations and on the wall next to my bed had silly doodles of me and the fam exploring space, I would erase them and put up new ones whenever I felt like it.

Lucy and Luan each took me to their private poetry/comedy clubs respectively, with Lucy we were paired with a partner presentation, she read her depressing story and I painted a picture from the feelings she was conveying, personally I had no idea what was going on but everyone else seemed to like my take on an uplifting approach to a cemetery at daybreak. During one of Luan's comedy prop routines I got a bit of a kick at it but felt that I just couldn't quite capture it all with a still drawing but maybe it would be different animated.

Yeah, I even wanted to take up animation and maybe make a cartoon someday, funny how goals change, back then I wanted to make something of myself, now I just want to live to see my family and hold them in my arms again." He said as his eyes begin to water.

"Whoa that got a bit heavy for a second there, back to the never ending quest to find myself that is my childhood, post-adoption story, so one day hanging out at the mall with my sisters, someone hands me a flyer for this martial arts studio a couple of blocks away. Lynn said I should try it but you know, me and physically taxing activities go together like oil and water, but then word got back to the folks and mom couldn't be more for it and offers to take me, I tried to worm out of it, then Lynn threatens me by offering to get me in shape herself with extra wrestling matches and I couldn't turn to mom fast enough.

So we go to the address and the studio turns out to be a dojo, with just a handful of kids there, a few teens and about '20 adults', all teachers or sensei's. I thought I was just going in for Karate, but that was just one of the 30+ disciplines they offered, I should know, I took up 12, not including weapons training, ranging from knives and staffs I took up basic Karate, judo and Muay-Thai in the first year, by the second I added Krav Maga, 2 of the 4 major styles of karate and moved onto Brazilian Jujitsu and in my third and 'last' year I got into uh, what was it called, Systema or something, and off the top of my head I can't think of the last few

The first year was horrible for me, it ate up all my free time, I was always sore and hungry, puberty was not a fun time for me, would not do it again. As much as I complain, after that first lesson I was hooked and by the end of the year I was jacked, kind of , not really, I was still a twig compared to Lynn but I could keep up with her, she still beat me in pretty much everything and laugh in my face but I was getting better.

In my second year things got really different, at 13 I was finally a match for the mighty 'Lynn-sanity', it just burned her up, her little brother was gaining on her, oh yeah I won a few of our wrestling matches, though she still got the better of me more times than I care to acknowledge, those small victories led to somewhere big.

By my third year I was kicking Lynn's ass in practically every contact sport, then she wanted in at my dojo, too bad for her it took me years to develop my mad skills, she probably thought after a week she could match me, Ha, she wouldn't talk to me for a few days after I won our last long distance race, she was so red, you had to be there." He said beaming with pride. "Also don't tell anyone but Pop-pop took me and Lynn to a gun range a few times and let me tell you, for an old guy he has the eyes of a hawk, guess all that military training doesn't really leave you.

But y'know, in between my second and third year I entered a few competitions, both in tournaments and for painting, I finally started adding some trophies to my case, *****cough***** second and third place awards but those still count, in my third year I started bringing in the gold, just one though."

*****Sigh***** "Everyone was so happy to see ME happy, even if it was just second place, they were just happy for me, proud even, I wonder how they're doin' now?

Last I remember, Luna and her girlfriend Sam still had that band looking for their big break, Luan too, she posts pranks online and started doing skits with yours truly, Lori and Leni were in college, yeah Leni in college, go figure, a full scholarship in fashion and business while Lori moved in with Bobby somewhere in the city, Lynn, Lana and Lola were more or less the same, Lily was far too young to find any talent but it didn't matter to me.

After the whole getting over myself phase, me and Lily really bonded, I personally took care of her most days and one time when she was 3, right after I put her to bed she called me dad, she probably thought I was our dad but damn it if it didn't make my heart jump.

Lastly there's Lisa, to be honest I have no idea what she could be doing right now but whatever it is she's making life better and easier for everyone I guess, y'know part of the reason me and Luce are stuck out here is cause of Lisa, but not in the way you're probably thinking, see, when this whole thing started, mutants were killing a bunch of people and they needed to be contained, so the they built a wall around a lot of states made out of these hard light constructs designed by Lisa or so I'm told, word doesn't really travel so much from behind the wall unless it's from the dupes or militia, so take everything you hear with a grain of salt I guess." He pauses.

"Y'know this place probably didn't always used to be shit, it happened because of some bad people, terrorists going by 'Harmony and Discord' and whatever dumbass comic book villain revenge plan they had, unfortunately for the rest of us it sort of worked.

Let me take you back about six years, I was 14, it was my third year taking up self-defense or just martial arts."

~XxX Flashback XxX~

About three years after the revelation of Lincoln's origins, we find him this mid-Autumn, Saturday afternoon sitting on the sofa, Lily on his lap and the twins on each side of him all watching the television as the three eldest siblings and their parents were out, Lucy's somewhere literally in the house, Lisa was doing whatever geniuses do and Lynn was in the backyard.

They were watching an emergency report from the United Nations with the recent bombings in Siberia by a new international terrorist group. The reporter was female, a young adult, brunette in a yellow business dress.

**[**…_And that concludes the report made by the Russian ambassador for the attacks made on Moscow, Ural and Siberia, President Vladimir Putin is unwilling to inform the UN how the latest attacks have affected his country or allow foreign nations to lend assistance. This has been Katherine Mulligan, back to you Michael and Jess_.**]**

The reporter tells the audience as the camera switches to a station with two more reporters, a bald, black male in a grey business suit and a white, raven-haired female in a bright red dress both behind a glass desk, as the male, Michael starts to talk.

**[**_This confirms the latest attack made by the group known as 'Harmony and Discord' with Russia being the newest target so soon after China and Africa_.**]**

The female reporter, Jess further adds on,

**[**_Yes, it seems they've now worked their way through five continents and just like the presidents of South Africa and China it seems President Putin refuses to give insight as to what exactly happened or give an approximate number on the lives lost_.**]**

Back to Michael,

**[**_This marks the thirteenth attack in the third week since the debut of Harmony and Discord, which begs the question, where will they strike next or will they remain in Russia for the time being?_**]**

Then Jess again,

**[**_It's also worth pointing out that like the Australian prime minister, Putin has organized military outposts enclosing the affected and surrounding states, refusing to let word out on the situa_-**]**

Lincoln changes the channel to a cartoon about a blonde magical princess from another dimension.

"My god, what's the world coming to?" Lincoln voiced his thoughts.

Lincoln, just as the rest of his sisters have gotten older, taller and a change in wardrobe, Lincoln's hair has gotten longer, he wears an open black dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up and a neon-orange long sleeved shirt and navy-blue jeans. He appears lean and having only minimal body fat, suddenly he gets a tap on his left shoulder and sees Lola.

"Do you think they'll get us next Lincoln?" She asks with much fear in her eyes, she hasn't changed much, other than her hair length, height and her missing front teeth filled in, the only thing new about Lola would be her trading in her bright pink dress that dragged on the floor for a more regal design and a lighter, softer shade of pink that now hovered over her shoes, courtesy of Leni.

"I, uh, I'm not sure, we can only hope they're caught before that happens." He reasons as Lana speaks up.

"And what if they aren't, 3 weeks ago we didn't know they existed, now they're all anyone talks about but no one can find them." Lana panics

Lana traded in her overalls for jeans and a forest green t-shirt, she still keeps her hair in short pigtails and matches Lola in height, face and dental work.

"Well if that's the case then we'll just stay safe here, with how Lisa's armed this place, nothings gonna take it down." He said with smug confidence until the twins started to panic together.

"But what if 'HD' sends people to come get us?" Lola asked tugging Lincoln's right arm.

"What if their bombs are more than Lisa can handle?" Lana shouted pulling his left.

"What if they have an army, what if they have sleeper-agents?"

"What if they have an army of sleeper-agent cyborg-ninjas?"

"… Really Lana, cyborg-ninjas, please?" Lola replied to her twin's question.

Lincoln was getting fed up with their questions until he heard sniffling from his lap and he turned Lily around to see tears forming.

"They're gonna hurt us Lincoln?" Lily asked as all three of her elder siblings stop in their tracks. Lily is in her soft purple shirt, white shorts and messy blonde hair that reaches her neck.

"Oh no Lily, please don't cry the girls were just kidding, right?" He beckoned the twins with a bit of venom in his words as they realized what their distress has caused.

"Uh, that's right, no worries Lily, nothing bad is gonna happen here, hehe." Lola says hesitantly.

"That's right baby sis, we'll be fine." Lana added.

"Why don't I get us some juice, will that make you feel better Lil'?" Lincoln asked.

"And cookies?" Lily asked with her lips quivering.

*****Sigh***** "… You're getting dangerous Lily, I just can't say no to you." With that Lily beamed in anticipation for sweets.

"Ahem, and what about us mister." Lola pouted.

"Fine, just because I'm getting up anyway." He grumbled.

"Why thank you good sir." She said in lady-like fashion.

Lincoln passes Lily over to Lola as he heads over to the kitchen and just before he leaves the living room he hears Lana congratulate Lily with a 'Good job Lil-ster', his eyes roll but he still goes to get his sisters treats.

He makes it to the fridge and notices the door to the backyard open, '_Would it kill you at least close the door Lynn, seriously.'_

He closed the door and turns only to be tackled onto the ground and his left arm held in a lock behind his back and a hand on the back of his head, he struggles to turn his head and sees, Lynn, sweaty and breathing heavily from her workout in the yard.

"Gotcha this time Linc, how does it feel to have me back on top *****snickers***** SHUT UP, you know what I meant." Lynn had Lincoln trapped under her as she straddled his back and had his own arm twisted behind him.

"I take it Katja showed you this huh?"

"You know it dork, now say it, say 'You win, Lynn-sanity forever'."

"Uh huh, by the way did Katja teach you how to get out of one of these?" He asked with a predatory grin.

"Uh…"

"I'll take that as a no then" He says as he twists himself, uses his free arm to elbow her in her chest, she lets go of him to hold the right side of her chest, *****"OW, MY BO- uh oh"***** then he pounces on her putting her in the same hold she just had him in, but holding both of her arms in a lock with one hand.

"Aww C'mon, I had you, you cheat!" She yelled as she tried to squirm out of it only for her younger brother to lock her in place.

"Face it Lynn, one week at the dojo doesn't quite stack up to 3 years, Lynn-sanity had her fun in the sun and now it's time the lone brother gets his due." Lincoln says as he laughs comically.

"The hell he does!" She tries to fight him off only to find herself solidly pinned, "Ahh, no fair."

"All's fair in 'Loud and war' Lynn, your words remember?" He said smugly. "Now admit it, admit Lynn-sanity is no more and that Lincoln reigns supreme!"

"Oh, is that right?" She asked as a thought came to her, she starts squirming again but not to free herself, she already learned how strong Lincoln is, no, now she has a different strategy.

Lynn, starts grinding her rear on Lincoln's crotch and at that moment she feels something hard-ish poke her butt as a blush crept along her face and grinds harder just as Lincoln sees what's going on.

"Woah, woah, what are you doing?" He asks as his grip loosened and in that instant Lynn pulls herself free and stands apart from Lincoln.

"HA how do you like that, Lynn-sanity lives to fight another day." She said congratulating herself.

"No fair, you can't do that Lynn." Lincoln says as he pulls his shirt down in a vain attempt to hide his erection.

"All's fair in Loud and War Linc, besides it's your fault, who gets turned on by their step-sister?" She says eyeing his crotch.

"Apparently the same person who's step-sister has to get them worked up just to win a stupid game." He says as Lynn gains a sultry grin.

"Ohhh, so you admit I turn you on?" She says slowly walking up to him with an extra oomph in her hips.

"No, no, stop putting words in my mouth." Lincoln says heatedly.

"You just said I get you worked up, _sooo_… what is it about me you like, wait don't tell me, I think I know." She said putting on the biggest shit-eating grin she can muster, "I mean I always knew I was hot but coming from you just proves it."

"Ugh whatever, just leave me alone, I gotta get Lily her snacks." He says trying to change the subject.

"Man, she's got you wrapped around her finger, whipped much bro?" She stands beside him, nearing in height, with her at 5'6" and him at 5'4".

"I am not 'whipped', just getting my baby sister a little something to calm her down." Lynn then reals her hand back and pretends to crack a whip.

"Whatish, whipped, HAHAHA." She laughs to herself as she leaves and Lincoln catches her on her way out with a certain sway in her steps.

Her hair's loose, probably undid her hair tie, her drenched t-shirt clings to her lightly tanned, freckled skinned upper body, her 'still' developing chest, and her red tights do nothing to hide her bubble-butt, _'Guess all those squats are paying off huh'_.

Lincoln knows he shouldn't be looking at his sister that way but can you blame him he's 14, has a healthy imagination and just had his junk fondled by the sister with boundary issues and a body that was coming along quite nicely.

Sadly, Lynn isn't the only one to make him feel this way. Ever since Lori moved out to live with Bobby 2 years ago the older sisters have enjoyed this new found freedom and exploited it to an extent.

Within the confines of their rooms, the older sisters (mainly Luna, Luan and Lynn) tend to dress in a more risqué manner, just laying around in their underwear, this wouldn't be an issue however they leave their doors open and pop in on Lincoln in his room in such attire.

Luna says watching Lincoln do the same with reading his comics got her wanting to try it for writing songs and she's made it a habit ever since, Lynn says that she finds clothes constricting when she she's doing indoor extreme sports and that the Greeks used to do it in the nude, lastly Luan says that she likes to be comfortable in her own skin, though Lincoln believes she just wanted an excuse to walk around in her underwear.

Unfortunately the worst offender is Leni, now she doesn't walk around in her underwear per-say, but recently in college she's been getting into making a brand for herself and tends to make clothes and use herself as a model or self-proclaimed 'fashion tester' and on occasion she does ask for a boy's opinion and thus has Lincoln critique and even sketch her in her brand.

While that in itself wouldn't be a bother, the actual problem started from helping Leni with her summer catalogue, short shorts, crop tops, sundresses and swim suits galore, what a marvelous time to be Lincoln and with her figure shaping up to be most pleasing, this had inadvertently awoken Lincoln's eyes to the female form and his awareness towards his own sexuality.

As embarrassing and shameful as it is, he wants more, the newest problem now comes in the form of Leni testing her newest 'night wear' collection, every other day Leni models sleeping lingerie for Lincoln, it started with basic bras and panties but she came across the more risqué night wear online and has been obsessed with it for months now. It's come to the point where she only feels comfortable sleeping in a silky or lacy negligee or babydoll nightdress.

But right now he has to put those thoughts to rest as he grabs snacks for his younger sisters.

"Finally, what took so long?" Came the impatient and entitled voice of Lola.

"Ran into Lynn on the way, she wanted to test her mettle against your big bro." He said bringing a plate of cookies in one hand and a pack of juice boxes in the other.

"Did you win?" Lana asked

"Uhhh, not really." He shrugged, placing the plate and boxes on the table for the girls to grab some, Lincoln takes his seat.

"Huh I guess Lynn's making a comeback, maybe she'll start easin' up on you bro." Lana says with her mouth full of sweet crumbly goodness, her lips decorated with chocolate chips and crumbs.

"I really hope so."

Since his third year training in his dojo, Lincoln has been coming into his own, we're not talking a six pack but he's been gaining real muscle and is starting to prove himself as Lynn's physical superior. This in turn only drives her to defend her post as the most fit and the strongest of the Louds, her competitive nature just can't allow her 'little brother' to outclass her.

Unfortunately he has been beating her in all their races, wrestling matches and even catching up to her in height, her need to outdo everyone is being threatened on multiple levels and not just by Lincoln, ever since Lisa made a chart listing their approximate height based on genetics and history, Lynn has been realizing that she may be indeed be the shortest of her siblings by the time everyone reaches adulthood.

She knew she wasn't the oldest but she always hoped that when she matures she'd be taller than Lori, but based on Lisa's projections, Leni holds that honor both currently and for the foreseeable future. The only unknown was Lincoln but even he's proving to be out pacing her. This has only spurred her on to challenge Lincoln even more so in the last year than she has in all their years together, slowly but surely she is coming around to the idea that she doesn't have to be the best at everything, unfortunately she's still taking it one step at a time, it's a work in progress.

The four siblings sit in silence watching cartoons and counting their blessings, hoping this peace can last a long time.

Suddenly Lincoln speaks up, "What can we do for you Lucy?" Then the rest of the siblings look around to find Lucy behind the couch.

"Sigh, even now as I try to surprise you, I've been caught, did your battle senses detect me or could you perhaps hear my heart beat?"

"I just saw your reflection in the window, *****"Oh"***** so what did you need, inspiration for your next piece, some words to rhyme or maybe a pair fresh eyes for critique?" He asked

"Sigh, I wanted to indulge in sugary bliss with you if my presence wouldn't be an issue."

"Sure, help yourself Luce." Lincoln said and turned only to see air, he looked back to see Lucy sitting on the left arm chair scaring everyone this time, somehow already having a cookie and juice box in her hands.

"Thank you."

Lucy, 11 years old, 4'10", deathly pale and sporting a black shoulder-less, long sleeved sweater dress that comes down to her thighs to reveal black nylons and surprise, black shoes. Another change with Lucy is the shorter hair only going up to her chin, straight cut bangs still hides half her face.

One day Lucy was unlucky enough to be caught by one of Lisa's explosions and the majority of her hair was burned off, not a fun day for Lucy, you don't mess with a lady's hair, ever. It was awkward seeing Lucy's eyes, a spooky pair of icy-blues that stared into your very soul, it's no wonder why Rita and Lynn sr hid her eyes with a beanie in her infancy, eventually after about a year her hair grew out enough to what she has now.

In her time avoiding almost everyone, Lucy has become somewhat clingy towards Lincoln, he at least ignored her gaze to have a normal conversation and after her year-long self-imposed isolation, Lucy feels confident enough to go out again, and she might need it, she somehow got even paler in the last year.

-**_XxX_**-

The sun came down and as Lucy, the twins and Lily were asleep on the sofa, Lincoln and Lynn were in the kitchen making dinner. Lincoln had put away his ebon shirt and rolled the sleeves to his orange long sleeve, Lynn got the apron, under was a red tank top and short spandex.

In the last few years as their father's job as a chef had taken off there were times when he felt like imparting his talents by teaching the children his craft. Out of all the kids who could reach over the counter, Leni, Lincoln and Lynn jr (most surprisingly) took to cooking just as well as Lynn sr could've hoped. Although Luan might have some talent in deserts, gelatin traps and a banana cream pie in the face does not make an enjoyable meal.

The kids and Lynn sr now take turns making dinner, cooking in rotation, Leni seems partial to healthy meals, vegies, fruits etc, but will make whatever you ask, just keep it simple. Lynn leans heavily on meats and fried foods, Lincoln makes a bit of everything but the girls love him for his baking skills in sweets; cakes, pies, cookies and muffins he always has a batch of cookies waiting for everyone and a secret stash hidden in case of emergencies.

Currently Lynn and Lincoln are making spaghetti and meatballs, loaves of garlic bread and mixed veggies, while their dad was supposed to come with dessert. Lincoln just finished the gourmet sauce after popping Lynn's meatballs out of the oven.

"Alright Linc, you're done here, you go get the girls, I'll watch the garlic bread." Lynn offers.

"Thanks and remember, 4 minutes then take them out, WITH oven mitts this time, think you can manage?"

"Oh ha ha, yes I got it, I won't make that mistake again, for the third time." She whispered that last part.

Lincoln heads out of the kitchen but takes one last look back and sees Lynn in her white apron, slightly bent forward waiting by the oven, Lincoln causally sneaks glances at Lynn's round butt, it's just out there, not too big, nowhere near small, it just pops out right in front of you and with her opting to wear short black spandex just to make dinner, Lincoln can't help but look.

"So you gonna get the girls or just stare at my ass all night, I mean either's fine just FYI." Lynn doesn't even need to turn, she just knows Lincoln's eyes are glued to her butt.

Lincoln takes off with his face redder than the sauce he just made, and though he couldn't see it, he knew Lynn was smirking and had even more dirt on him now.

He takes a moment to look at the girls on the couch and decides to leave the front door. He heads towards a hatch on the front lawn and gives it a hard couple of knocks as a long microphone pops out of a hole in the hatch.

"State your purpose, I'm in the middle of documenting my newest invention.

"Lisa, dinners ready, clean up and get inside, alright."

"Affirmative, male sibling unit, I shall indeed join the rest of our family for sustenance, might I have insight as to who has prepared this evening'sh banquet." Lisa asked with less of a lisp.

"Me and Lynn made dinner tonight."

"Most excellent, I will require but a few minutes."

"Alright Lis'." Lincoln said as he stood there.

After the explosion that took most of Lucy's hair last year, Lisa had expanded her emergency escape shelter and chose to continue her experimentation from the safety of her bunker. She has grown a bit but her style of clothing and grooming habits remain unchanged.

Lincoln waits for Lisa, as much as he trusts his neighborhood, he wouldn't leave his seven year old sister unsupervised outdoors.

In just 3 minutes, Lisa emerges from her bunker, she's wearing an oversized lab coat over her green sweater and burgundy pants, over her face are large round-rimmed glasses and atop her head is a messy set of brown locks.

"Lets us be on our way brother unit, I am positively famished after documenting my numerous diagnostics." She says as they begin walking back into the house.

"I'm assuming it's for that secret project you're working on as of late." Lincoln comments.

"Your assumptions are correct Lincoln."

"Are you gonna tell us what you're working on?" He asks.

"Negative, I will reveal my creation and its functions to everyone shoon enough." She says with a smile.

"Seriously, for the last month, you've been working like crazy on this 'secret project', can't you tell me anything, I mean you seem to be in high spirts considering what's been going on as of late?"

"I suppose when our family has gathered I'll disclose what has put me into an elevated disposition."

"Great, can't wait." He says as they both enter their home and close the door. "You go rinse off, and we'll set up."

"Very well, I'll be off now." And with that Lisa heads up stairs.

Over the last few years Lisa's lateral lisp as lessen to an extent, now she normally speaks without fumbling her S's, however it does tend to flair-up at random, she believes that it'll go away with time, meanwhile her speech has become much clearer and she expels less saliva when she talks which is always a plus.

Lincoln turns to the sofa where he notices only the twins and Lily slept, _'I guess Lucy woke up.'_ He looks to see Lily laying on one end, resting her head on a decretive pillow, Lana laying on the other end with Lola resting on her.

Lincoln gently nudges and shakes the twins awake, relays the message for dinner and sends them up to rinse off, and so they go.

He then wakes Lily as she turns to him and says, "Daddy" and just like that Lincoln's heart skips a beat.

"No Lily, it's me, Lincoln, c'mon it's time for dinner, spaghetti night remember?" He says as she rubs the sleep out of her eyes, and holds her arms out.

*****Sigh***** "Alright Lily-bug, I'll take you upstairs but you're coming down on your own, got it?" He asks as she nods.

Lincoln scoops up and cradles Lily as she rests her head on his shoulders, a three foot tall, 30-something pound, purple bundle of cuteness, Lincoln really can't say no to her.

"Aww." A voice spooks him from behind and sees Lynn leaning against a wall by the kitchen entrance.

Lincoln sees that her face is slightly red, _'Probably just took the bread out of the oven.'_

"You're such a good dad, that's something ladies look for in a man y'know, just you watch." She grins as she makes her way back to the kitchen.

Lincoln rolls his eyes as he makes his way upstairs.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln had come back down stairs to see the front door open and in poured the remainder of the Loud family, Lynn sr had picked up his wife from work, Leni from her part time job at the mall and Luan from her afternoon stand up rehearsal, meanwhile Luna just pulled in from her band's ride after a gig.

The parents hadn't changed in the last three years but the same couldn't be said for their girls.

Leni is 19 and is currently the tallest Loud, outgrowing her father by 1 inch, standing at 6'1" out of heels. Her blonde hair reaches her mid-back, she's in a teal version of Lucy's sweater dress minus any leggings instead opting for jean shorts and has on heeled sandals. She's filled out over the years and is now rocking a solid D cup, an hourglass figure, long legs and a beautiful creamy complexion.

Luna is 18, standing at 5'10" outgrowing her mother by a couple of inches, she's currently doing that teen punk style with her already short brown pixie-cut now turned into a pixie faux-hawk. Of all the sisters, Luna has inherited their mother's body type rather nicely, if Leni is an hourglass then Luna is a gourd, bottom heavy, a low C cup with the real eye catcher being her small waist, wide hips and plump, bountiful cheeks to match. She's changed her attire as well, converting her torn-sleeveless purple shirt into an even shorter crop-top to show off her midriff, her purple plaid skirt (bespoked by Leni for Luna's specific 'dimensions') over torn black leggings and purple boots. She has freckles dusted over her lightly tanned complexion in contrast to Leni' flawless creamy skin.

Finally we have Luan, 17, possibly the most changed of her sisters and possibly the yin to Luna's yang, the same lightly tanned complexion but with Luna being bottom heavy, Luan is very much top heavy, truly her time spent in braces has earned her some privileges, blessed with a large, bouncy set of DD's, when not in any getup for her comedy routine she usually keeps her shoulder-length light-brown hair in a loose ponytail and wears a white turtle neck over bright yellow leggings and white shoes. She stands at 5'8", matching her mother in height and in cup size, Luan used to be very self-conscious over her boobs, getting all the wrong attention but has since learned to accept it and rolls with it, even incorporating her chest in her jokes for a few yucks, now Luan makes it a habit to stuff comically ill-proportioned props in her cleavage, 'fun for the whole family'.

"Sup guys." Lincoln says happy to see his family in one piece.

*****GASP***** "O-M-Gosh, Linky I just met my bosses boss and she like flipped for my late fall and winter collection, the ones you picked out, Ah it's so exciting I could die, oh but hopefully not before I get to see people wear my brand." Leni squealed with energy, Lincoln was about to congratulate her until Luan spoke out.

"Good on you Leni, y'know I wasn't so sure they'd go with your designs to begin with."

'_Oh here we go_.' Were Lincoln's thoughts as he knew exactly where this was headed, as if he had a sixth sense about this.

"W-Why do you say that, don't you believe in me?" Leni asked getting worried.

"Oh no, it's not about that, I just didn't think they were so open minded, I figured they were 'clothes minded', HAHA, get it?" She chuckled as the rest of her siblings groaned but her father threw in a laugh, "What don't like that one, I thought it was pretty 'jean-ius', Ha get it."

"Boo, get off the stage." Was all Lincoln could get out before he was targeted by the mad-punner.

"Aww, I hope I didn't 'orphan-d' anyone with that, HAHA."

Lincoln proceeded to face palm himself, *****Sigh*****, '_You did this to yourself Linc, you gave her free reign, but she could at least stop using that one_.' "Get new jokes Lu, I hear that one like 3 times a week for crying out loud, *****"Good one"*****, that wasn't a- oh whatever. He said as Luna speaks up.

"Gotta say sis, that last one just fell flat, ya need a bit o' fines." She said before something caught her noses attention. *****Sniff, Sniff***** "Ooh, 'what's this sensation tickling my brain', who's cooking tonight bro?"

"Uh, me and Lynn, it's spaghetti night, *****"Guess I'll be 'spe-getting' some of that"*** **yeah okay Lu, so what did you bring, dad?" He asks Lynn sr, who is holding something behind his back

"Who me, oh nothing much, just some Gelato!" He says as he holds up a big tub of ice-cr– Gelato, and ooh vanilla bean too as Luan sees an easy mark.

"Ah that's so sweet, I heard it's ge-lot-a-good, and I know you picked the crème de la cream just for us, you're gonna make me melt, and to think we're just one day away from a sundae, haha." She would have kept going but Lynn just erupted from the kitchen out of her apron and into a jersey.

"Alright, we get it Luan, now go clean up your act, some of us want to eat tonight!"

"Aww, you're no 'pun'." She says in mock sadness as she and the other make their way up stairs just as the younger sisters start coming down.

*****Sigh***** "Just another day at the loud house." Lincoln says to himself.

-**_XxX_**-

In the dining room, after an accident (Lisa) that destroyed their old dinner table, Rita made it her new 'mother-son' bonding project to teach Lincoln about carpentry and wood carving, it was so much fun even Leni got in on the action. With a bit of Lisa and Lana engineering 'magic' and some plans by Lincoln, the newly erected dinner table was strong and could manually expand for more seats, it looked elegant and regal courtesy of Leni and Rita's hard work, befitting royalty itself as stated by Lola. No more kids table and everybody still has fun with a bit of a mess here and there in between mini food fights and competitions to see who could shovel in the most food, even the clean ups were fun especially when Lynn made a game out of it.

Dinner proceeds in relative peace, light conversation here and there, Luna raving about her next gig, maybe her big break, Luan is talking to Lincoln about the newest skit she came up with and might need his help for it. Along with a standup act, Luan was branching in to writing for comedy skits that usually involved herself and a small group of friends, occasionally her classmates got in on it, Lincoln helped with a bit of everything, from writing to props and filming.

Lynn is speaking to her dad about the sports teams she's on; baseball football, track and volleyball, of course she could probably make it into every team, 'but it wouldn't be fair to everyone else' in her words but really she had to adjust her scheduling and move her priorities around. It's not that she's unwilling to make the time for it, but she's only one woman and her grades are low enough without the excessive sports teams eating up her study time, in high school things are different, you can't keep up in academics you don't get to play.

And so Lincoln gave up most of his private tutoring with Lisa so she could focus on Lynn but with Lynn not being an intellectual, she needs another tutor in the form of Lincoln. Teaching someone material you aren't even going over in your own grade was quite the confidence boost for Lincoln, Lisa always did acknowledge that other than herself Lincoln was the most intelligent, capable person in the house.

Speaking of capable, Lynn really didn't want to give up all the other sports but had to make hard choices for herself, and while not officially on every team, she is at the top of the reserves in case the players get injured or dropped due to grades, it happens more than you'd think, high school jocks are dumb, they will fuck around and get themselves hurt and even uphold the old tradition of jocks equaling bullies, unfortunately for some of them we live in a technological age where they get caught and are then suspended.

So hurray for Lynn, not only can she get in on any team but she's also the captain of all her other teams. When she had to make her choices, Lynn was initially gunning for soccer as oppose to volleyball but Lincoln convinced her otherwise. She likes to joke about it but she really does think Lincoln only talked her into it just to ogle her ass in her uniform, she knows how much he stares at her butt, it's not a secret to her.

Back to the table Lola was talking to Leni about the new dress she'll be unveiling in her next pageantry, Lucy was working on her poems at the table against her mother's warnings and Lisa was going over some schematics with Lana. Lisa had conscribed Lana's engineering habits to help in her endeavors and is currently going over some plans for another project.

Everyone had just finished their dessert when Lily called Lincoln over.

"Tired." She said as her eyes flutter with fatigue even with the nap she just took, being so young she still needs as much rest as possible.

*****Sigh***** "Alright Lil', let's get you ready for bed." He says as he moves over to pick her up and cradles her as Lily cranes her neck over Lincoln's shoulder, *****Sigh*****, "You are so spoiled, you know that little lady?"

"Aww!" Were the collective voices of Lincoln's entire family as they watch him hold his baby sister, he eye rolls as he begins making his way towards the stairs.

"Whatish, whipped!" Shouted Lynn as her family shared in the laughs this time.

"Not whipped." Lincoln says audibly.

"Yes you are!" Answered back the majority of his sisters sans Leni and Lisa.

"Like what is he then, some kind of topping or not?" Leni asked with curiosity in her voice as everyone takes a moment to face palm (yes this is the same girl that made it to college), Luan then spoke in place of her family.

"Well he could be a 'topping' if a girl were on the 'bot-" Her father interrupts.

"Don't you start!" He knows exactly where this was headed then Lisa decides to clear Leni's confusion.

"No second eldest sibling, they are referring to Lincoln's current predicament of bending to our youngest sibling's whims, i.e. Lily has him wrapped around her finger."

"Oh, well regardless if he taste good or not, you can't deny he looks like a really good dad, OH I can't wait to see what he'll be like with his own kids!" She says squealing with excitement as Luna pitches in.

"I hear ya sis, he's gonna make some lucky girl real happy someday, he can cook, *****"Hey I helped too!"*****, he also cleans, you do that Lynn, *****"…"*****, thought so, he's also great with kids and he knows how to treat a lady, 'sa shame there's no lady in his life now." Luna says as Lola scoffed.

"Oh puh-lease, we're here, what would he need with other girls when he has 'us'." She stated rather than asked as Lisa speaks up again.

"I believe our rhythmically gifted third eldest sibling incurs that while Lincoln has all the 'female attention' he may require for his age, she's implying he has no significant other, a female to court so to speak." Her mother then adds.

"Not that he should be courting girls at his age, nope!" Rita says clearly not ready to be a grandmother, not while Lincoln just got into high school.

"But that's not to say for lack of trying, you dudes remember what he did last Valentine's Day, all those homemade chocolates, man I can still taste 'em." Luna happily says as Lynn pipes up.

"Oh yeah, he really went all out, everything from chocolate bars, coated strawberries, drizzled on chips, cakes, pies and brownies the whole nine yards." She recalls while she and Lana were salivating at the memory as Lola speaks.

"Yes I remember that, I also remember that we were the first ones he gave before he gave to any of those tarts." She bitterly states, Leni then softly voices.

"Yeah, it was so sad when he didn't get anything in return, not even a phone number." Luan then states.

"You would've thought he'd have gotten some 'brownie points' or something." Then Lynn speaks up.

"Well, I mean yeah they were good but it was just chocolates, 'snot like they were gonna put out for him-"

"Junior!" Lynn sr silences jr as Lola continues.

"Well he should have gotten something, those were some of the best tasting chocolates I had, better than the ones at the stores and made in factories, those girls were idiots, they must've put in some effort not to see what was in front of them." She said with distaste, Lisa then makes her opinion known.

"While I won't object to the sweet taste-sensory pleasing form of his Theobroma cacoa mixed with chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla and milk, street name: chocolate, none of the females among his peers were obligated to give anything in return no matter how delectable his treats were." Lisa said flatly as Lucy persists.

"Well they still could've given him something, no mortal's efforts in this lifetime spent in service to a worthy cause should be unlawfully reproved."

"See even Lucy agrees, clearly those girls like to take Lincoln's tokens of affection and run with it, they must be brain dead." Lola says with her arms folded and face turned in a displeased manner.

"But as I said before, those girls are not obligated to return the gesture out of tradition, they shouldn't have to uphold your self-pleasing standards." Lisa says coldly.

"Are you really fighting me over this Brainzilla!" Lola shouts.

"Of course not, I refuse to enter a battle of wits against an unarmed opponent." Lisa back-sassed.

"Why you-" Lola is interrupted by Leni.

"Like stop it you two, Linky's chocolates were totes good but you shouldn't fight over it!"

"We're not, but you, that isn't- Oh forget it!" Lola stops talking and grumbled to herself as Lisa pinches the bridge of her nose in silence, once again Leni has stopped a fight on her own or simply confused everyone into submission, it gets results, don't argue.

Then they sat in silence for just a moment as they hear footsteps descend the stairs and out comes Lincoln.

"Alright I'm back an- what's going on here?" He asks, curious to the silence presented in front of him.

"Nothing" His sisters said in unison then Lana asked.

"What's up with that smile bro?" Lincoln had been wearing a big smile across his face since he came back down and he awkwardly tried to scrunch it back to normal but it sticks to a smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" He tried to play it off, convincing no one as Leni speaks out.

*****Gasp***** "It happened again didn't it!?" She asks while bouncing in her seat, beaming.

"Uhhh…"

-**_XxX_**-

-Earlier-

Lincoln had gotten Lily rinsed off and helped her into her bunny pajamas. It was a purple onesie with a white, round belly, a hood with long ears, a combination of two things Lincoln loves, bunnies, as proof with bun-bun and his baby sister Lily, and she's still waiting on Lincoln to carry her the rest of the way to bed with her arms out, *****Sigh*****, "You're pushing it Lil'," she really wasn't, he'll just do it like always.

Lincoln carries Lily just five feet to her bed, on his way he looks around and notices what's around, crayon sets and construction paper, drawings worthy of a four year old, two boxy stick figures of a small person in purple and a tall person in orange holding hands surrounded by other drawings of other stick figures of different colors. Lincoln looks over to Lily's bed, it's small but more than enough for her size, currently dark blue sheets, on the other side of the room, gone is most of the technological gadgetry and chemistry sets, now replaced with monitors, a few cases, all black and filled with who knows what and a twin sized bed, the sheets are green and has a repeating pattern of E=MC2 in black.

Lincoln lays Lily in her bed and tucks her in with her stuffed white bear, he is about to say something when he notices her snoring softly, he smiles and plants a kiss on her forehead and begins walking to the door. He turns off the light as a small nightlight shines, it's blue in color and in the shape of a bat, '_thank you Lucy_', Lincoln leaves a crack in the door to let some light in even though she has a night light, Lily needs the comfort and before he takes off, he turns.

"Night Lily-bug, sleep tight." He turns.

"Night Daddy." He hears a soft moaning voice as he turns and sees Lily snuggle closer to her bear, Lincoln walks off not noticing his face contorted into wide smile.

-**_XxX_**-

-Back with the Family-

"…I don't know what you're talking about, hehe." He chuckles hesitantly.

"Oh come on Linky, it's nothing to be ashamed of, Lily called you daddy again, you're gonna make like such a great dad." Leni says as Lynn looks smugly at Lincoln, the Loud Patriarch began.

"Oh so that's how it is huh, Lincoln's the new dad, Lily's already replaced me." Lynn sr said in dramatic sadness.

"Oh you know it's not like that dad." Lincoln said getting tired of everyone poking fun at him over this.

"C'mon sport, it's just good fun, besides Lily loves you, like Leni said, there's no shame in it." Lynn sr said.

"Yes male sibling, you should take pride, not many males in your age group and above can be said to handle the responsibilities of fatherhood as well as you can at least in a vicarious sense, do not think we don't see how you've been so attentive towards our youngest sibling, you feed her, entertain her and even teach her, Lily's reading at a third grade level and that is because of your efforts, your own progenies should be of higher brain function should you be the one to raise them." Lisa stated.

"Uhh.."

"Take it as a complement Lincoln, you are excellent father material, which is most desirable to the females of our species."

"Ha what'd I say Linc." Lynn said ending with a grin.

Lincoln eye rolls at Lynn's comment, "Thank you, I guess Lisa, I'm sure once you give the news, the ladies will be all over me." Lincoln spoke with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh thank you for reminding me, Family, I have wonderful news!" Lisa spoke, "As you all know, I've been spending the last month down in my lab."

"Yeah no joke dude, you've been as scarce as a roach when the exterminator comes by." Luna said taking note of Lisa's absence as of late.

"…Thank you for that 'lovely' comparison between me and vermin, moving on, I have been invited by a few colleagues to participate in the upcoming Science exposé taking place in Seattle, Washington tomorrow and it is there I shall be presenting my newest creation, it will revolutionize construction and transportation and that'sh just the start." Lisa told her family starting to get excited.

"Cool, so what does it do?" Asked Lana.

"Apologies eighth eldest sibling, but as I've conveyed onto our male sibling, I shan't give any hints or information that will be revealed during the exposé, our parental units already know of the event and with much deliberation we've decided to take the family since we know you haven't planned anything." She said confidently as Lola asks an important question.

"Wait Seattle, but what if HD attacks we won't be safe there!?"

"I assure you ninth eldest sibling I have run the numbers, with HD still inside Russia and with the science expo under heavily armed surveillance and keep in mind HD has never attacked any country's capital directly or indirectly. They've steered clear from any country's representatives, a factor why I believe they have remained a non-priority until their 5th attack."

"I just don't think we should leave like at ALL until they're caught." Lola said as her twin gives her opinion.

"Yeah I'm with princess over here, you can risk your life if you want though." That's when their father speaks.

"Girls, I know how scary it can be with an unknown like HD causing trouble for everyone, but us staying cooped up in here doesn't change what they want and that's controlling everyone through fear, you don't have to come with us but we already talked it over with Lori, she's coming to support Lisa, what about the rest of you?" He asks his kids.

"Oh wow, Lori's coming then I'm totes in!" Leni exclaims.

"I mean if they're still half way around the world then what's the harm in supporting the brains of the Louds?" Questioned Luna to no one in particular.

"Well if Lisa's getting recognized for her work then this calls for a 'cell-abration', *****"Oh my God"***** I guess we should make like photons and 'travel light', *****"Please stop"***** oh, did you hear about the mrrph-" Luna had her hand cover her roommate's mouth.

"Thank you for that Luna." Said Lincoln, next up was Lynn.

"Of course I'm going, I'm not scared of those guys, 'sides I really wanna see what Lis' been up to." Surprisingly Lana voices her sudden approval.

"Well I guess if Lori's going, we don't got much to worry about, right sis?"

It's a real wonder how Lori has so much sway over her siblings even after leaving the Loud house, though to be fair she really did have an effect on them when she was here, she's everyone's big sis, the oldest, what she said and did mattered to the rest of them or perhaps because she left and everyone is so excited to see and or agree with her when she speaks that almost everyone agrees so quickly, even if she wasn't the smartest or wisest. Maybe it was one of those 'who's going in the pool first, to test the waters' sort of thing, the point is everyone valued and respected Lori's input, even Lola.

"I… suppose it might be alright."

As everyone was having a side conversation by themselves Lynn sr looked over to Lincoln whose lips were but a thin line, his smile gone and his brows angled in such a way that tells he was thinking really hard.

"And you Lincoln, how about you?" The Loud patriarch asked his boy.

"Uhh… I'm not so sure actually." This caught his sisters off guard, they had just been given not only Lisa's, their parents but Lori's seal of approval as well and here was Lincoln still thinking it over, was it really that safe, could it be.

His sisters call over to him trying to sway him and change his mind, the whole family can't go if one of them is out, it's not like how it was 3 years ago when the whole family lived under one roof, all of the elder Loud sisters have their futures to think about, 2 sisters are in college, one moved out and the other having to work twice as hard in academics and fashion to keep up with her classes, 2 performers who are out all the time trying to navigate their way to fame and fortune, then there's Lynn taking her school work and extracurriculars seriously. That leaves Lincoln and his remaining 5 sisters to attend 'family events' on the fly, this Sunday was the only chance in a long while the Louds in total could get together, this wasn't so much as about Lisa's presentation as it was about all the siblings getting together for a big event.

This was a lot of pressure on Lincoln, he really wants to go but he is actually scared of HD, regardless of what he may have told his sisters, HD is a credible threat, a threat to his family, to his home and the worst of it is that logic seems to be in Lisa's favor, and so he gives in, seeing no other way out of denying his family a day to be together in support for one of their own.

"Alright, I'm in, let's do this." He says with a tinge of regret.

"Yeah!" Shouted the Loud family.

Lincoln continued, "Alright, we should start packing, I'll handle the dishes." He says hoping he'll come around more to the idea while doing something to take his mind off of the fear.

-**_XxX_**-

As he is cleaning off the plates, he feels someone short hug him from behind, he turns his head slightly to see it was Lisa.

"Thank you Lincoln, I know from your facial nerves and body language, you really aren't up for it but it truly brings a joyous expression to my face knowing you will be there in support of me, from the bottom of my cardiovascular muscles, thank you Lincoln."

With that Lisa left Lincoln in silence, the storms of fear and doubt that overtook his heart lifted after seeing the smiling face of his sister, he knows he can do it.

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

In the present Lincoln holds a somber expression.

*Sigh* "Even after all of that reassurance, it all came to bite us in the ass when shit went south."

**END**

* * *

**[Yeah, we're still quite a ways from us getting somewhere progressive in the story]**


	4. Chapter 3

**[So apparently I didn't learn my lesson last time and burned my self out earlier than expected and ended with a chapter going past 12k words and ended up cutting it down to 10k and split of the last chunk into a later chapter]**

**[Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or anything really, if I did I wouldn't be on FF, I'd be on TV]**

**To OMAC001: You can and you will ;)**

Posted 9/30/19

* * *

-Chapter 3-

"The science exposé, that's where everything went to shit, mom and dad had pop-pop and gran-gran look after the house and our pets, we were waiting for Lori to arrive so we could leave and I spent most of that time looking at a family portrait in the living room that was taken after my 'origin story', smiles on everyone's faces, and such clear detail too." He said, looking back fondly at the memory of his family picture.

"Mom has golden-blonde hair and bright-green eyes, dad has dark chestnut-brown balding hair and sapphire blue eyes.

Lori, the perfect blend of our parents with mom's golden-blonde hair and our dad's sapphire blue eyes, Leni has such a beautiful shade of angelic platinum-blonde hair and emerald-green eyes.

Luna decorated with freckles has our dad's dark chestnut-brown hair and dark-blue eyes, Luan has light auburn-brown hair and light-brown eyes, the first one to stray from our parents distinctive features.

Lynn has warm-brown hair and soft-brown eyes and just like Luna is littered with freckles, Lucy has long jet-black hair and had icy-blue eyes, not that you could tell under all that hair.

The twins have golden-blonde hair like our mom and light-brown eyes like Luan, Lisa has shaggy dark chestnut-brown hair like our father and Luna with emerald-green eyes like Leni.

Baby Lily has light-blonde hair and bright-green eyes like our mom, lastly there was me, snow white-hair and at the time I had chocolate-brown eyes." He ended taking a breath and started again.

"I was taking it all in, examining every last detail and I'm so glad I did, I must've stared at it so hard I got it burned into my skull." Lincoln sat there remembering, deep in focus like he was trying to recall some lost detail, "Eh, anyway Lori just came and-"

~XxX Flashback XxX~

It was bright and early in the Loud house at about 9am as Lincoln was staring at his oldest sister Lori after just breaking off their hug, it's been quite a while since he's seen her, he just can't take his eyes off of her.

14 year old Lincoln was taken aback by how tall Lori was at about 5'9", sure it wasn't that much but it was the first time in a long while he's seen her and he didn't expect to be reminded that he was the 'little brother' so soon with her looking down at him and with Lincoln's eyes attuned to the female beauty he finally sees what presumably Bobby and subsequently Clyde along with other boys see in his sister. Lori was beautiful and just like his other sisters to be sure Lori has her own unique charm as with the rest.

Working backwards, Lynn was cute, had a boyish outlook that felt safe to approach, for a long time being the sporty one made her seem so un-lady like, in some cases undesirable and downright intimidating to those of the male persuasion but growing up has really brought out her assets, her curves are coming in and all of this has shown Lincoln that girls come in all shapes and sizes, to sum up Lynn; 'strong is the new cute'.

Luan, is hard to pin down (wink), you wouldn't call her butch but you can't say feminine either. She just has one of those aura's that makes you want to grin and leaves you happy (or tries to at least), her dedication to her craft and singular mission to get you to smile just makes you feel all kinds of special, like you're all that matters in the world if only until it's her time to go. Puberty has been very kind to her, probably back pay for the years spent in braces and getting boo'd out by the others when her one goal was to make them laugh, with an impressively large bust for her age and a mega-watt smile, Luan's getting all the attention she should have been getting all her life, makes you wonder why she doesn't have a boyfriend now.

Luna, now there's a girl who knows how to show you a good time, she has the necessary energy needed in just one of her songs to power a small city, unlike Luan, Luna's much easier to place in the feminine to butch spectrum, easily butch through and through. She demands your attention and rewards you greatly for your devotion, the kind of woman you hate to see go but love to watch her leave, if Lincoln's being honest, there is no one thing that can perfectly describe Luna's beauty, only that it's a bunch of little things rolled into one woman that makes Luna so contagious among both men and women alike, Sam doesn't seem to mind it, Luna's got a little something for everyone.

Leni, Leni is pure, not to say she is pure good or pure of heart but if people were to describe Leni, it would probably be 'stereotypical pretty, dumb, blonde girl', but Lincoln sees the truth, Leni has nothing to influence her growth in any way to be more than just her; honest, sweet and emotional so yeah this does leave her to be vulnerable to manipulation and easy to mix up sometimes (a lot) but of all the louds there is no one more honest or soul-stirring than Leni. With an angelic face as divine as her hair, a slim but curvy build, she's not small but she's not big either, a perfect hourglass shape Leni draws the attention of boys and girls but only a handful have the courage or audacity to make a move, usually they think she'll put out until they realize the ditzy blonde routine is for real and if they want any T and A, they'll have to play the long game, something most teenagers are not into but Leni doesn't care about that or really understand what they were after in the first place, all she knows is there is at least one honest, perfect boy in her life and he lives down the hall.

Then there's Lori, like Leni she has a bit of an hourglass body type, minus the extra height on Leni and added curves on a slightly older woman, she's a blonde too, but unlike Leni, Lori's outlook has been molded by time and it's given her a desire to keep what's 'Hers' with her enchanting visage and authoritarian charge. Lori is in a light blue turtleneck and a brown skirt that barely reaches her knees with black flat heels. Her sweater is form fitting and accentuates her DD cups, and while Leni is starry wide-eyed, Lori's eyes are always half lidded (the bedroom eyes), revealing her blue eyeliner that makes her always seem stuck between seductive and dazed or analytical. She has a light creamy skin complexion that's just a few shades paler than Leni's, the exposed skin of Lori's legs look so smooth and rich you just want a quick feel and see what you're missing.

Lincoln stares at Lori as she's making her way to the kitchen to greet the rest of her family, her form-fitting pencil skirt outlines a nice, firm, perfect rear, an ass you could bounce a quarter off of.

"Oh so now I'm not good enough huh, found someone else did ya, I see how it is Lincoln." Came the voice of Lynn, startling Lincoln as she mock angrily struts away purposefully swaying her hips with her tight, red, ass-hugging shorts in full view, reminding Lincoln where his attention should be, _'God Damn Lynn!'_

Lincoln's left daydreaming of how Lynn would look out of her shorts as he hears a knock on the door, he opens it to see his grandfather Albert 'Pop-pop' and Myrtle 'gran-gran' his girlfriend turned wife as of last of last spring. Albert and Myrtle still look the same, Albert, standing at 5'8" has white hair and a light-grey, thick mustache, Myrtle has big, dark-brown hair with a few streaks of grey coming in and is about Lincoln's height. The two of them haven't changed much in the last 3 years other than a few more wrinkles.

As the elderly couple makes their way in, Albert wraps Lincoln in a tight bear hug as Myrtle pinches his cheeks, "Woah, yer gettin' big Lincoln, haven't seen ya in ages." Albert says to his grandson.

"You just saw me last week pop-pop." Lincoln responds to Albert.

"Yeah but to an old fossil, one week may as well have been months, I love the boys back at the home but you can only play cards with the same crowd for so long, aint that right Myrtle?" He looks to his wife.

"Oh yes, but look at you Lincoln, so handsome, you probably have a girlfriend by now, right hun?" She asks as a familiar voice surprises them.

"Yeah Linc, tell them about all the girlfriends you don't have." Came the smug tone of Lynn who came back down with 4 black cases that Lincoln has seen in Lisa's room.

"Ha ha haaa, yeah alright Lynn, real funny." It is funny because Lincoln's been friend zoned by every girl so far since last Valentine's Day.

"Damn right, now take these boxes to the van while I catch up with pop-pop, K." She tells Lincoln.

"Sure, why not." He stops to notice how light they are.

"And be careful, don't need poindexter giving me an earful cause of you."

"Alright, Alright, I'm going now." He said ignoring the tomboy and delicately carries Lisa's cases to the van.

-**_XxX_**-

"And that takes care of that." Lincoln said as saw two shadows approaching.

Lincoln turns to see his best friend Clyde and his girlfriend of 2 years, Penelope. Clyde really has changed, just as Lincoln, Clyde has been getting in shape and stands taller than his best friend at 5'7", he still needs glasses but traded in his bright yellow and blue shirt for a solid blue dress shirt and underneath you can see the collar to a pale yellow shirt, meh, black slacks and black high tops.

Penelope has long frizzy red hair, black rimmed glasses, a pink sweater embroidered with an alien head and a teal short skirt with brown shoes, Lincoln's pretty sure she wore the exact same thing years ago but when you find a look that works for you, no point in changing. Apparently puberty decided to reward her like Luan for their pre-pubescent imperfections, cause she's stacked, 14 years old and carrying DD's, they just sprang out of nowhere last year, '_Clyde is a lucky man, those didn't even come in till last spring, and that trip to the pool_-' His thoughts are interrupted by Clyde.

"Lincoln, I got your text last night, you're going now?"

"Hey Clyde, sup Pen, *****"Good morning Lincoln"***** and yes, we're leaving now. To be honest I'd rather not, but we don't really get too many chances where everyone's schedules are clear and for something so important. Still it kind of bothers me to know everyone just sort of agreed when we found out Lori was coming-" Lincoln started only to be cut off by the monotonous voice of Lucy.

"I didn't" ***AHH!*** Were the screams of our outdoor teens.

"Lucy what have we told you about that!" Lincoln said holding onto his chest.

"I didn't even see her, where did she come from?" Penelope asked as she wheezed.

"I've learned that it's better not to ask and just be thankful to still be breathing Penny." Said Clyde while catching his breath before Lincoln addressed his sister.

"How can we help you Luce and what do you mean you didn't?"

"I was just talking with our grandparents when I noticed you weren't around until I noticed Clyde and his eternal love standing in front of our dwelling, as for your second question, I never gave my answer, everyone skipped over me as per usual, Sigh."

"Oh, uh, wow, I'm so sorry Lucy, I was so caught up with myself I wasn't thinking about yo-"

"Your concern for me is appreciated and I understand Lincoln, I too am afraid of HD." Lucy told her brother as Clyde spoke up.

"Oh man, tell me about it, my dads are so spooked, they turned the tracker in my phone back on and call me every half hour I'm out of the house-"

_~Switch on the sky and the stars glow for you,_

_Go see the world cause it's all so brand new~_

"And speak of the devils, hold on I gotta take this." Clyde answered his smartphone to talk with his father(s). His ringtones have always been a bit upbeat and Disneyesque, Penelope begins in his place.

"Ignoring that one of continuous obtrusions to come." She said obviously upset.

"Hsss, that bad Pen?" Lincoln asks.

"I mean, I get it but the other day me and Clyde were in the middle of-" She looks to see Lincoln raise an eyebrow, "You know what, never mind," She blushes, "Anyway, they keep calling when we're trying to have some alone time and he just picks up for them, c'mon I know I'm no UFO or a cryptid but I deserve a little attention too!" She finished with a huff.

"President of the Paranormal Research club ladies and gentlemen, *****"Co-President"***** right, how could I forget, anyway I can't help you with your guy troubles, shot in the dark, you tried talking to him?"

"Obviously, but he keeps deflecting and dodging the subject like Bigfoot dodges a camera."

"Alright, I think we get it, you're aiming to be a paranormal investigator but can we please just talk normal and leave that SCP crap back in the mystery machine, Velma." Lincoln said rather rudely.

"…See this why you can't land a girlfriend, for a guy who has like a million hobbies, you really should take an interest in someone else's, maybe then you wouldn't need the aid of chocolates, oh and how's that going by the way." Oh this ginger bites back.

"Just fine, how's the hunt for 'Bigfoot' treating you." He said gesturing to Clyde as her Bigfoot. Playful banter between the two to be sure, it's how they defeat the awkward tension between the two when Penelope started dating Clyde and steeling all of his free time.

They stare intently at one another until they share in a laugh, if they were being honest, when Penny started dating Clyde, she and Lincoln really didn't know how to be friends or 'share' Clyde and after one misinterpreted comment, it turned into trading insults and just as the toxic atmosphere reached its climax, they just burst out laughing and that's been the basis of their friendship, eventually they just learn to play things out and when not on dates, Penny regularly joins Clyde in his and Lincoln's (mis)adventures.

Penny gradually got to meet the rest of the Louds and finds Lucy the most… fascinating, she truly buys into Lucy's supernatural affiliations.

"So anyway, sorry can't help you there Pen but if it's really bothering you that much, you could just talk to Mr. and Mr. Mcbride about it, I'm sure they'll understand." Lincoln tells Penny.

"Right, I'll keep that in mind Linc, so you hear about Russia?"

"Yeah, HD's turning into a real nightmare."

"You said it, everybody won't shut up about it, we were thinking about heading to **'**Gus' games and grub**'** later but on the way here, it was like a ghost town, people are too scared to leave their homes and play outside these days."

"Don't even get me started, I spent all of yesterday with my sisters at home, didn't even want to go out, guess everyone's waiting for the inevitable, huh."

"Yeah, anyway we wanted to wish your family well, we know you guys are gonna be safe at that exposé."

"Thanks."

"Don't worry about it, now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go drag my man out for some fun." She said walking back to Clyde who is still in the middle of his conversation as Penny pulls the phone from his ear and kisses him deeply then as if in a trance he hangs up and walks off with his girl.

"Huh, he didn't even ask about Lori this time, I guess Pen's really got a hold on you. *****Sigh***** See you when I get back." He says in a dull tone.

"I'm sure they'll be fine without you-" *****AHH!*****

"You're still here?!" He nearly screamed.

"Sigh, yes and as I was saying, they'll be fine without you, you have nothing to worry about Lincoln."

"Yeah, I guess, you sure you don't need anything, I didn't keep you waiting did I?"

"No, I'm fine here, though everyone else seems eager to leave, remind me how we are getting to Seattle in less than a day, I seemed to have forgotten."

"Yeah Lisa was pretty spotty on the details last night but Mom and Dad said that we're being flown over in some kind of supped up private jet, we are estimated to arrive just under 2 hours."

"How many strings did Lisa pull to land that?" Lucy asked, impressed.

"It's being provided for her by one of her colleagues just for the exposé, I think his name was… something McCoy, it's also supposed to be our ride back home."

"How wondrous." There was a hint of excitement in her dull voice.

"Here's the kicker, it's being developed for the military but it needs a trial run so we're being allowed to travel aboard an unarmed demo model, I mean it's no Lockheed Blackbird but I heard it's pretty damn fast."

Lucy raised an eyebrow not that Lincoln could tell, "And you're sure it's safe?"

"Lisa said so, she also told mom and dad that's how a lot of other big wig scientists are getting there on short notice too."

"…Sigh, very well." And like that Lucy exited back into the Loud House.

*****Sigh***** "Now if only I could believe that."

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

** ***Sigh***** "Not much I could've done then, I'm just happy to be alive with Lucy now. So back to the plane, it wasn't really a smooth ride but it did get us to DC just before noon and as we went through customs with a family of 13, being checked thoroughly delayed us by about an hour, at least it wasn't American Airlines …that's still relevant right?

Then we were escorted to a hotel by some secret service, men in black looking assholes who made it clear we were a chore to them but fuck those guys, me and the girls didn't really feel like going out, room service was awesome, there was an arcade on the ground floor, DDR with Lynn and Lori, karaoke with Leni and Luna, guess who drew in a crowd, not me. Oh man, don't get me started on this one girl, she had mocha skin, long wavy dark hair, bright green eyes and had the fattest a- Wait, wait no, stay on target Lincoln." He reminded himself.

*****Inhale***** *****Exhale*** **In a somber mood, Lincoln began again. "Alright so back to the expo, it was about 6, the sun was setting and the president was being introduced-"

~XxX Flashback XxX~

Lincoln and his family were in a massive crowd that swarmed around a stage, very, large, very spacious. Behind the curtains of the stage people were moving about, probably the stage hands workers getting the lights right as the speakers were buzzing.

Lincoln felt a tug on his pants as his baby sister Lily gained his attention.

"What is it Lil'?" He asked seeing her eyes water and lips quiver.

"I can't see, Lincoln!" she shouted needing to be heard over the intense and mixing voices of the crowd around them.

"Alright Lil', how about this." He picks her up and quickly but gently places Lily on his shoulders, as she tries to balance herself she grabs patches of Lincoln's achromic hair, he yelps in brief pain.

"Ah, ah, easy Lily! Your big bro needs that hair." He tells his sister.

"Sorry Lincoln!" She tells him in a panic.

"It's alright, now how's the view from up there Lily?" He asks.

"Better!"

"Good, now let's watch Lisa 'revolutionize the world', right guys." He addresses his family.

"Right!" Shout his family. Lincoln looked onward ready for the show to start as he feels Lily squeeze his head tighter and he smiles.

Finally the curtains parted to reveal a massive cloaked structure of machine, and a man walking to a podium. He was light skinned bald and in a black pinstripe suit, and soon enough he was making the introduction for someone else.

"Ladies and gentlemen it is my honor to welcome our president-" ***BRZZT*** ***BRZZT*** ***BRZZT*** The man continued to speak until he realized that the microphone wasn't picking up the audio and the speakers were bugging out just as another voice began in his place.

**[**"_Good afternoon Ladies and gentlemen, this is 'Harmony and Discord' here to interrupt your little science fair to deliver a message_."**]**

Everyone began panicking as the voice only grew louder and suddenly he feels his arms being squeezed by two kids. He shifts his head left and right to see Lana and Lola respectively grab onto him. Dear lord, he sees Lola visibly shaking and the color draining from her as sweat pours down Lana's face, they look exactly how he feels right now and it's downright horrifying.

"Oh no, oh no, no, NO." Lola mumbles to herself as her arms vibrate with fear taking hold, Lincoln sees tears trailing down her face and her mascara dripping along with it.

The voice calling everyone's attention picks up, Lincoln hardly noticed that he had stopped listening to it, instead choosing to see his sisters panic and try to do something about it as he turns back to the podium, he knows he has missed chunks of HD's big speech.

**[**_"…Best said by Homer in the Odyssey, '…Nothing is bred that is weaker than man', but we know the truth, we humans were gifted with no physical advantages that give us the edge within the cruel game of life known as 'survival of the fittest' yet we as a species stand firmly atop the food chain, the hierarchy among our fellow beasts of the land but history continues to point out our faults._

_ Those who stand on top of any pyramid grow complacent, we grow comfortable in the role we've taken for ourselves, then others who wish to take our place makes the same mistake, history repeats itself because no one lives long enough to see the pattern._

_We live in an age dominated by bureaucrats, politics, pencil pushing and paper money, for some it is paradise for they've learned to thrive whereas the rest must assume the position of subservient beast._

_ We humans were not gifted with strong fangs, mighty claws nor any extraordinary traits that put us all on equal footing with our superiors within the wild, we've conquered them, confined them but we've yet to claim the ability to stand beside them, because we are still weak. History has taught us that through conflict, we humans fail to meet it with brute force, no, we use our minds to make up for what we cannot accomplish on our own, we have developed our minds, our numbers but not ourselves._

_ This is because the **Consortium** has fooled us into believing we cannot rise and by keeping us complacent, we don't question it, we don't argue with it, we just accept it. I have a present for all of you, we've had it made special for everyone here._"**]**

The voice went silent as no one wanted to speak above the loud humming noise that originated from the stage and everyone looked to the massive machine that was covered, it was glowing an ominous red and pulsating. 2 members of the security detail approached the cloaked structure with guns drawn, as both individuals pulled the fabric off the machine a loud roar erupted from the audience.

[22:52]

It was counting down, for God sake it was a timer and everyone knew what for.

**[**"_Our gift to you, death, destruction, misery and the beginning of a new era, for it is trial by fire, conflict and struggle which proves the impetus for evolution. War is the catalyst for ingenuity just as pain is the crucible to power, only by fighting for our lives do we become more efficient but it isn't enough, there is no change in humanity through war, it only scars us, molds our mindset, no, what we have given you is the pinnacle of our ingenuity, the ability to change, evolve and finally give us our fangs and claws._

_ 'Nothing is bred that is weaker than man', it is indeed true, we must make ourselves stronger… this is a bomb filled chemical mutagens, a special compound that will lead to the salvation of our world_."**]**

[20:59]

**[**"_It is most unfortunate that you will not survive for if you do you may come to beg for death. Even so, progress and evolution requires the destruction of the old in order to_-"**]**

There came a tap on Lincoln's shoulders as a man who looks to be of the security detail drags Lincoln and his family through the crowd and makes their way out of the expo and behind a formation of men who look to be of secret service forming some kind of perimeter.

Not far from the expo there was a hidden escape route that led to small shuttle train-carts that were made to travel underground all lined up, one was already leaving and from the thick slightly frosted lining of the glass windows he could see it was the US president, his family and his entourage/escorts. The next ones to enter a shuttle train were the guest big wig scientists, the ones making the presentation.

Lincoln could barely form a thought and just ignored the voices around him and in the blink of an eye his family was next, he snaps out of it and realizes Lily was taken off of his shoulders as father was dragging him into the train as the sound of gunshots filled the air, then Lincoln looked back and saw a mob of the expo attendees rushing to the shuttles.

'_Oh God, this IS happening!_' Were the thoughts racing through his head.

"Are we gonna make it out of this Lis'?!" Came the strained voice of Lana, who asked the Loud genius who looked onward with wide eyes as she was stammering until her sister Lynn slapped her across the face.

"Get a hold of yourself Lis'!" Lisa came back to reality as the family looked to her.

"Yes, thank you for that and yes we should be able to escape the city within minutes, this underground rail system was made to launch escape shuttles fast enough to safely transport its occupants across the state into safe zones and bunkers, we should be safe if-"

"Like, why aren't the doors closing?!" screamed Leni as the crowd of people made it to the shuttle the Louds were in.

"Ahhh!" Everyone looked to see the spooky dark dweller of the Louds was pulled out of their shuttle as people tried to push themselves in.

Something snapped inside of Lincoln as a man who tried to grab onto another one of his sisters flew back with a sickening crunch resonating from his mouth, more and more people tried to force their way in as they were met with similar results as the first guy.

Man, woman, teen everyone got some as Lincoln was forcing his way out of the shuttle ignoring the voices of his family, he made his way to his downed sister and lift her off the ground as he saw a nasty bruise on her cheek but he ignored it as he turned on his heels and dragged Lucy through the crowd repeating the same actions he used to get off the train now to get back on until something collided with his back and sent him to his knees as he picked himself back up and kept moving.

He noticed in the midst of this chaos, the attendees were fighting each other as much as they tried to force themselves to board the shuttle, failing as another person stepped in only to be pulled out by the person behind them as the cycle repeated itself, but he cared little for what these animals did to each other, he made it closer to his family little by little.

Someone grabbed onto his neck as another person elbowed him in the face, his nose dripping and his head rattling as he pushed forward an made it to the doors only for someone to pull on Lucy and dragged Lincoln back too, as he looked back to his family screaming for him and Lucy, he turned back and saw whoever was pulling on Lucy and threw the fiercest right hook on this greasy balding man who looked like the kind of man your teachers warn you about, the kind of man who offers you candy to climb into the back of his windowless white van, Lincoln had no regrets knocking his shit in but as he pulled Lucy to the train the doors closed in their faces leaving a devastated family and a stunned pair of siblings as the train shoots off into the dark void of the underground tunnels.

Lincoln looks to the next cart that's already being boarded by desperate attendees hoping to survive whatever was waiting for them back at the expo, this time there was no hope of getting past this wave of angry survivors, some sitting and praying knowing that they're doomed, some refusing to accept what was happening and one guy pulling out a knife and- '_Holy Crap_' he just starts stabbing people in his way but then he's viciously beaten to a pulp by a bigger mob in retaliation, Lincoln looks to Lucy who is lost in the maelstrom of fear, panic, terror and death around her and then it hits him, if there is time left, just get to a car someone may have left behind.

"C'mon, I got a plan!"

"R-right!" She struggles to form words and mostly just nods.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln and Lucy ran as fast as their legs could carry them while they run past the stage where the bomb had been armed as people were trying and failing to take it apart or disarm it not knowing how to, the damn thing was solid, it looked like one piece of machine but that isn't what he's here for.

[8:37]

Yes, there was still time, Lincoln knew he could run a few blocks in under a minute, but it was him and Lucy and Lucy could not keep up with him so he did the only thing he could. Lincoln yanked Lucy to his side and while ignoring her pained yelp he just throws her over his shoulder and sprints as fast as he can.

-**_XxX_**-

He is more focused and dedicated now than anything he's ever been in his life, as he could feel every second pass he estimated the countdown was at about 7 minutes.

Lincoln with Lucy in tow make it to the streets as he lets her down and she holds her gut in pain, he spares no apology as he's looking for a car to take, he's confused as to why more people weren't taking cars, '_I mean are they all panicking too much to think or do none of them know how to hotwire crap?_' were his thoughts as he comes upon a topless Porsche wedged between a few more vehicles, Lincoln couldn't care less to figure out what model it is as he hops in and Lucy climbs in.

Lincoln quickly undoes the plastic guard under the steering wheel and starts pulling out wires.

~XxX Reality Break XxX~

"In case you're wondering, I learned how to hotwire from Luna and Lana, I picked up a thing or two from one of Lisa's lectures involving electronics, wires and passing on electrical charges. Lana showed me how to cross wires in a car to make certain parts go and Luna showed me how to actually hotwire, WHICH SHE DOESN'T DO WITH VANZILLA, 'wink' anyway"

~XxX Back to Flashback XxX~

Lincoln just got the car started as the engine roars.

"Seatbel- oh you got it, well hold on Luce!" He says as he shifts it into reverse.

"You know how to drive?!" She asks.

"Sort of, I've seen dad do it a jillion times how hard can i-" He's shut up as he rams into the car behind him, he looks over to Lucy and the blank face she was wearing, he could feel her judgmental gaze "What!" He puts it into drive and speeds of into the distance people are littering the streets as he swerves and narrowly misses a few idiots just standing in the road and one man tries to jump on the car only to roll off and get his leg crushed and rolled on but Lincoln doesn't pay it any mind.

"C'mon, C'mon, C'mon!" In his head, he's already wasted nearly 2 minutes getting away from these idiots blocking his way as only now does he start flooring it, seeing an empty path in front of him, he goes for it.

He drives in a straight line in a seemingly empty road hoping not to crash into anything, the needle on the speedometer reading 160 and climbing but he doesn't pay attention, his chest is pushed back into his seat as the pressure builds but he ignores it as the winds drown out the screams coming from Lucy.

Suddenly Lincoln sees something blocking the road ahead as he takes his foot off the gas pedal and slowly pushes on the brakes as he and Lucy are nearly lifted off their seats when the car came to a stop.

He begins huffing as he takes a closer look at what's blocking him and it's a God Damned construction blockade, apparently this street was closed for maintenance, there is no road to drive on just ripped up pavement and vehicles left behind by their crew.

"FUCK, FUCK, fuck it c'mon Luce, we gotta run!" He tells her as they both undo their seatbelts and jump out of the car and just run for dear life, 30 seconds later and they feel some kind of pulse go off with what they could only describe at the time was a punch to the earth by some malevolent deity.

"Shit, we have to take cover!" Lincoln shouts as he drags Lucy behind a building and wraps his body around hers, cocooning her.

As a wave of energy accompanied by a powerful force and burning light washes over the two, Lincoln just before he blacked out felt his insides burn out as his skin freezes and numbs, his eyes feel as if they're oozing out of his skull and then everything turns white for just the briefest moment and then nothingness, a darkness that draws him into what he can only guess is the eternal rest he was promised in death.

'_So that's how it ends huh, not bad I guess, I just wish I could have gotten Luce back to the others, at least then… I'd… have died… happy._'

Everything goes black.

~XxX Reality Break XxX~

"Hope you didn't buy into that, cause I mean we're still here aren't we? I gotta tell you, that mutagen bomb or whatever was easily the worst pain I'd ever been in… back then, now, just barely top 10, trust me 6 years is a long fucking time to experience a new world of pain on a near monthly basis.

But anyway back to it then"

~XxX Back to Flashback XxX~

Everything was still, all was silent, night had fallen and it's pitch-black, it's hard to say how long it's been since the bomb went off but behind a building we see our white haired hero holding tightly onto his sister.

The air around Lincoln was cold, dry and devoid of any comfort. Suddenly there was jolt inside of him, something telling him to wake up but he just wanted to lay in the cold and rest.

*****Bu-bum… Bu-bum***** Lincoln stirs into consciousness as his body twitches, he feels a faint heartbeat outside of his body but slowly resonating with that of his own steady beat, '_Lucy?_'

His eyes slowly open as he is alerted to the darkness around him, he slowly pulls himself off of Lucy as he puts his ear to her chest, '_Oh thank God, thank you'_ he sheds a tear as he carefully brings his hand to her cheek but stops as he sees his hand.

It's tanned, even with this dark atmosphere he can see it with relative ease, he's gotten a dark complexion and though it's rather light, it's still a completely different tone than what he knew he had.

"Oh god, what happened to me?" He asks himself as he takes a second look at Lucy, '_Even she's different'_, Lucy's skin is like that of the purest white, as white as bone, like porcelain, right now as shocked as he is to see the alterations to their epidermis he needs to tend to his sister.

Lincoln picks up Lucy and carries her bridal position as he makes his way back to the Porsche. He puts her in the passenger side with her facing away as he climbs back into the driver's seat, he touches the wires to start the engine but nothing happens, he does it again but it doesn't start.

"Well shit." He steps on the gas pedal expecting something different only for the same thing to happen, and then suddenly the sound of Lucy stirring awake draws Lincoln's attention.

"Li- Lincoln?" She voices in a chocked out whisper.

"Lucy, you're awake!" He nearly shouted in happiness.

"What is this, are we dead, is… is this _The Bad Place_, I can't see you." She said in a hushed whisper, barely able to let her voice out.

"I'm right in front of you Luce, we're alive, I think, everything seems normal, it's night time." Lincoln says trying to calm her while caressing her hair to let her know he's with her.

"How can you tell how everything looks, it's so dark I can't see anything, where are the lights?" She asked as Lincoln was getting worried.

'_Oh no is she blind?_' Lincoln turned Lucy towards him as she reeled away in shock, "What's wrong Luce?" He asked, could she see him at last?

"Are those your eyes Lincoln?"

"What do you mean?" Lincoln was confused, what's wrong with his eyes?

"They're glowing, it's like staring into molten gold being dragged into a black vortex." Lucy said in her usual poetic fashion.

"What?" Lincoln asked as he parted Lucy's hair to his shock, the icy-blue irises he had been accustomed to had shifted into an electric neon-blue with a tantalizing glow to them, 'Yeah _that's definitely not normal, but why can't she see me?_'

~XxX Reality Break XxX~

"Yeah, I'm ashamed to say it took me a lot longer than I care to admit that I figured out I had night vision or low to zero visibility vision, I can see in the dark, well that and a shit ton of other powers that make zero sense, and me into every video game hero's wet-dream.

But after talking to Luce, we came to the idea that we needed to see what happened to everyone else and maybe find some survivors and since the car was a total bust we had to walk, guess who had to guide his poor sister."

~XxX Back to Flashback XxX~

Down the darkened path, Lincoln was walking back towards the expo to see what happened, it was a bomb right, and it even reached Lincoln and Lucy so why are they still alive and why does everything look so untouched?

They must've been walking for hours because eventually the two got to apart the road that seemed familiar to Lincoln, it was coated with corpses, all still and lifeless, the sheer terror and isolation was lost on Lincoln as he tries to remember what he was doing here.

'_This is near that road that was packed with people and that moron trying to jump on our ca_-' His thoughts came to an end as he saw the man who attempted to hitch a ride on the Louds' escape vehicle.

An older white man, a 'dead' man with short brown, a dark brown jacket, jeans and red sneakers- a sneaker, one foot was barren of foot wear other than socks, a foot that was bent at a 90 degree angle upward, at the shin with a blood trail showing her was moving a great distance away from the direction of the expo and apparent blast, his face blank, not peaceful, like he saw the end and didn't have time accept it.

Lincoln stares on and is sickened by what he had been a part of, maybe he could have given the man a ride, everyone was trying to survive and now that Lincoln is safe, all he can do is wonder if his 'selfishness' killed a man, doomed others or if saving his remaining sister was worth what he had done to this guy, '_Did he have kids, a wife- no, no ring on his finger, maybe divorced_?', these were the thoughts racing through Lincoln's head before a voice snapped him out of his trance.

"Lincoln, what's wrong he stopped for a while now, is there something here?" She asked still not being able to see but still worried her brother had stopped moving and while thankful of their break, they were still in the middle of nowhere.

"It's nothing Lucy, let's keep moving." He tried not to let his voice give away his emotional despondence just as another voice crept into his guilt riddled head, '_He tried to stop me and Lucy from escaping and suffered for it, he made his choice and paid for it, we did nothing wro**-** I probably helped kill a guy**-** He was as good as dead, he was just going to drag me and Lucy with him**-** STOP!_' He screamed in his head as his foot collided with something.

A red bike, next to the corpse of a teenager, a boy of around Luna and Luan's age group, Lincoln pays him no mind as he is still conflicted over the man he may have helped kill.

He looks back to the bike, the frames are red, wheels black and it had pegs, '_It's not like he's gonna need it\- That's disrespectful- I can't keep walking and I know Lucy needs the rest, she's a trooper, I'll give her that, only a few breaks in between and not a word of complaint, she needs this too._' And with that Lincoln carefully untangled the boy's feet from the bike that he owned in life but would now serve another in his death.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln had been cycling for about an hour, much faster than the pace he was going while guiding Lucy through the darkness only he could navigate. They had gone through the road they passed a while after they got the bike, that was over half an hour ago and there was nothing but bodies trying to get away from the blast, men, women and children all trying to get away and even a few cars with bodies piled around them, Lincoln figures some finally wised up and got to the cars only to be blocked by the people but he can't help but wonder why didn't anyone within the first twenty minutes of the countdown think to do that in the first place.

'_Maybe like me they just stood there listening to the speech like a bunch of zombies, if not for the security detail, my family would have been left out here, maybe it was mob mentality that drove them to attack the escape shuttles, surely they knew there wasn't enough for everyone and most could have just stolen a car, who knows, who cares they made their choice and now we're stuck out here._' Lincoln concluded his thoughts.

Soon enough the bike came to a stop as Lincoln saw a sight he'd never forget, dark outlines of where people once were as most of the stage from the expo was blown apart as was the surrounding layout. The machine that started it all or what's left of it was left in bits ruble as something wet and moving was sounding an echo.

Lucy asked Lincoln what was going on but he kept silent, if she was worried, she didn't voice it as the bike they were on moved towards the noise in what Lincoln remembers to be the escape route used by the President's escorts.

What Lincoln saw would haunt him for years to come, what was in the hall was a mass of flesh with multiple limbs wriggling and writhing as Lincoln could see it was coated in blood and pale pinkish flesh, upon that flesh beside the limbs were slits that decorated the thing, and the smell. The scent nearly sent Lincoln gagging but he powered through it and noticed a few bodies, men in black suits, obviously dead but in one of their hands, a gun, a Sig Sauer p229 DAK model, he wouldn't even know what one looked like if not for his grandfather, all black, easy to miss and just what Lincoln wants, what he needs in case he runs into more of these… 'blobs'.

"Lucy hang tight, I'll be right back." Lincoln whispers to her.

"Wait but-"

"Shh" He shushes her.

Lincoln and Lucy gently get off the bike and he puts out its kickstand then stands it as he goes for the gun. As Lincoln inches closer to his target he looks back to the blob creature, listening to its raspy, sickly breathing as it continues to make a wet slithering noise but still hasn't moved.

Lincoln picks up the gun and searches the remaining bodies, he finds 3 guns and a grand total of 5 extra clips. As he begins sneaking back to Lucy, Lincoln feels something behind him and turns to meet the blob of flesh in front of him, '_How, I_-' he thinks as he looks over to where he knew the monster was and saw it slither behind a building and stretch into the backside of the blob in front of him. Then the slits on its body part open and reveal eyes, eyes of all sorts of colors all glowing from a toxic green to a fiery red and even a soft pink.

The thing tried to grab onto Lincoln but he slipped away and saw something strange, it was waving its limbs in a frenzy searching for him, '_C-can, it not see me, even with all those eyes_?' He asks himself.

He thinks he can sneak away from this and plans to bail but then Lucy calls out his name hoping to get a response. That did it, the blob locked onto the sound and made a low rumbling noise as it shot out a stretchy limb-covered tendril towards Lucy and Lincoln didn't even need to think about it, he pulled out one the guns he 'liberated' and fired two rounds into the blob hoping to get its attention.

The bullets pierce its skin and blood pours from it as the rumbling started to sound like a hiss, it reformed back into one mass and rolled over to reveal a big slit on its 'stomach' and it opened showing Lincoln multiple rows of human teeth all mismatched and of varying colors and sizes. Within the teeth lain one more eye, a big one with 3 pupils splitting. As soon as it looked in Lincoln's direction a tendril shot out of one of its sides, to Lincoln it looked like it was coming in slow motion, he saw it as easily dodge-able but as soon as he moved his body it was moving just as slow as the tendril, '_What the WHAT_?!' he screamed in his head as the tendril caught and slammed him into a wall, knocking the gun from his hand.

As he was pinned he saw the flesh and limbs morph, several holes opened into the tendril holding Lincoln in place as they unveiled mouths and teeth, one shot out and went for Lincoln's neck but he moved, another shot out as he kept moving again and again the same thing repeated itself and Lincoln could keep up.

Lincoln was beginning to see its movements the moment the tendrils so much as twitched, he was predicting their trajectories and patterns, how was he doing it, he didn't know or question it, he was just going to keep it up until he could come up with a plan.

'_This is getting easier, if I just time it right this thing can't tou_-' "Aughhh!" Lincoln screamed as one of the blob's maw bit into his right arm, he tried to pry it off with his left hand only for it to pull back and tear a chunk of his arm, skin ripping at the shoulder and peeling back, presenting the exposed and torn muscles underneath, "You asshole!" He yelled.

Another mouth latched onto his left thigh and repeated the same action, the pain was too much for Lincoln to bear as he began fading in and out but something wouldn't allow him to fall into the dark void he was denied hours ago, the sound of his name being called by Lucy in her panic, obviously not being able to see she can only worry and hope he can make it back to her.

"Stay back Lucy, RUN!" He screamed hoping to get the Blob's attention off of her and it worked as it launched another limb lined tendril towards Lincoln looking to end him.

***BANG BANG*** The sound of a gun going off and bullets fly into the monster's main body causes it to moan and screech in agony as it reeled back in its tendrils and morph back into one mass.

Lincoln in all his pain looked around and hobbled until he saw Lucy walking forward waving an arm side to side, obviously she still can't see but why does she have the gun Lincoln dropped and how could she had hit the thing if she couldn't see it.

"Lucy! Was that you?" He asked and she looked in his direction and raced to his side, he stood as best as he could and held onto her with his left hand.

"Did I get whatever it was?" She asked answering Lincoln's question in a sense.

"Yeah but how, you can't see, can you?"

"N-no but I felt you both, you were in a lot of pain, you still are and it feels hungry and angry."

"Wait hold on, you felt it?" He asked now intrigued how she described what happened, even while blinded by this darkness, "Wait no, no time for that, we gotta move Luce."

"But you're hurt."

"And we're both in trouble if that thing gets a hold of us." He says as he guides her back to the bike

Lucy tries to be the one to ride but Lincoln tells her he's the one who can see, she wanted to argue but let him have his way, they begin riding if only slowly as they hear the blob screeching and slithering in their direction, Lincoln takes off but is still bleeding.

-**_XxX_**-

The bike is heading down the road the two came from and in the far distance they hear the blob but it can't seem to keep up or see the direction their going and so they lose it.

~XxX Reality Break XxX~

"And that would be the first of many encounters with that thing, eventually we do kill it but the how is another story for another time, so back to our escape."

~XxX Back to Flashback XxX~

-2 Hours after the escape-

Lincoln and Lucy had made it past the city limits through the construction zone and decided to stop as dawn broke through the skies as the blanket of darkness was torn apart by the majestic orange rays of the sunrise.

Lucy could finally see around her and was shocked by what she saw, "…" Lucy stood there with her face unmoving or showing any of her concerns.

"Luce, what's wrong?" He asks as Lucy tilts her head and nods to herself.

"Nothing, you look different but… somehow even more the same, more… right, I guess we'll have to adapt, it's better than the alternative I suppose."

"You make it sound like I turned into a monster."

"Oh no, it's just, well, I kind of like your new look, clear skin, exotic tone and the eyes just make it work- But enough of that, your wounds, I could feel your agony an- … what?" Lucy stood confused

"Huh, well how about that." Lincoln said looking at his 'wounded' areas and saw light peachy-creamy patches of his now darker toned skin, the chunks of flesh recently ripped out of Lincoln had healed over and was starting to return to its new 'natural' color, "That's… new."

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

"So yeah, I got super healing, regenerating parts of me and let me tell you, I will always be grateful for that power, more so than all my others, its saved me more than you know and that first encounter with the blob was just a day in the park compared to what came after" He said rubbing his left arm, gripping it tightly, "Just a day in the park." *****Sigh*****

**END**

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**[Just giving a heads up updates may get sporadic here and there, I no longer have the available free time I once had, but I'm not giving this up, I like writing]**


	5. Chapter 4

**[AN: I feel like for how long it took for this one to come out I should've made it longer but no dice, I want to keep it manageable with what time I can get for myself.]**

**[Now that I have the time to write this 'AN' I just want to say thank you to everyone reading this. This is planned to be a slow burn story and I'm still in the very beginning, hopefully I don't lose my mind before getting to the places I'm more in writing.]**

**[****Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or anything really, if I did I'd be bathing in a pool of money and bragging about it]**

Posted 10/21/19

* * *

-Chapter 4-

We return to see Lincoln field stripping his pistol and checking the parts. As soon as he is finished inspecting his weapon, with lightning fast precision that has been rehearsed a million times, Lincoln reassembles his gun and cocks it.

His gun is a modified desert eagle with a chrome silver slide, a black frame and a brown or wooden grip with holes drilled into it. For modifications, his gun has a black compensator and an extended magazine clip, if we're being honest, it looks inelegant with the nicks and stains but damned if it didn't do the job and really, Lincoln just loves it, it's so powerful. Last year he and Lucy were raiding an abandoned outpost and found a locked box then he just pried it open with his bare hands and there it was, Lincoln just fell in love and has taken care of it since.

He checks on his clip (empty) then rifles through his bag and pulls out the correct ammunition and a pack of smokes. He takes out a cigarette, puts it between his lips and puts the carton back in the bag as he loads the bullets into his magazine and slides it into his gun.

Lincoln moves over to the 'window' and leans his head towards it, he squeezes his right thumb and index finger around his cigarette as a burning white light ignites his smoke and he takes a long drag. Lincoln faces the window and blows out his ash and tar breath out into the air and just gazes outside, '_Nothing_', he sees nothing out there.

Lincoln turns back to the audience as his eyes widen a bit.

"Oh, you guys are still here huh, well I guess I already went through most of the important stuff just now. Let's see, let's see, uhhh, oh!

So you remember those martial arts lessons I was taking back before all of this went down, yeah funny story, turns out when you meet feral monsters and people twice your size with like three times your muscle mass, there is only so much a fourteen year old can do at the time.

That first week I got wrecked, got my ass handed to me on the regular and the worst of it, I feel like I was always being handed an EX Machina when me and Luce got out of those jams. Don't get me wrong, after getting my shit pushed in for like 9 days straight, I stopped relying on my fists figured we needed to play it smart from then on and anyone who fucked with us learned the hard way NOT TO.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, see me and Lucy weren't the badass monster hunting mutants you know now.

When we escaped that blob monster the first time we moved on to a different city in Seattle and saw a lot of what I saw back at the expo, bunch of people dead and mutated creatures springing up out of nowhere and sometimes it got freaky. Mutagens mutate people, who'd of thunk it," He said rolling his eyes.

"The first group of 'people' we encountered were almost skeletal, mostly skin and bones, not to mention feral as FUCK, I mean they looked like they should have been stalking graveyards and old churches and thus they were rightfully named ghouls. There were plenty of them in the beginning, in most of the cities surrounding Seattle at the time and a few of the following states, they're pretty rare now, almost a rumor at this point.

Next were the giant, muscly behemoths that looked like they belonged in WOW or in the pages of… name a book by Tolkien. Most of them could speak but from the way they talked you'd understand their oversized muscles compensated for a lack of grey matter.

Other than that, there's a large diversity between mutants, some might look animalistic, some can be a lot bigger or smaller than normal humans, some just might look like the protag of some dumb anime, while others may not have any abnormal growths or physical deformities at all, some of us 'normal' looking ones get altered pigmentation or skin, eyes and hair color if you skipped biology.

There is one more thing that separates a few of us. Not many of us have glowing eyes, me and Luce are a rare breed or so I like to think. Sometimes I think it's from that pulse or wave or whatever from that bomb but that doesn't explain why everyone doesn't have glowing eyes.

As far as I can tell military and 'dupes' say there are 3 kinds of mutants but honestly I don't care enough to learn how they 'classify' us but everyone outside the walls seem to care. The most common types of mutants are ones with physical enhancements and or bodily changes. Next are the ones like Lucy here, the ones that can do things with their minds or just powers that don't have anything to do with the physical body. And last are the ones with the name I can't remember, anyway the dupes say these people are vessels for a single type of matter and can control that or become it just like Salem and her shadows, what were they called, uh containers, no, channelers, nu uh… condu- Conduits! That's it.

A lot's happened over the years, it kind of starts blending together, let's see if I can blaze through this."

He takes a long drag, almost done with his cancer stick he blows the ash out through the window again and puts out the light with the palm of his hand.

"Alright, about a week into this mess flaming helicopters were falling out of the sky, riots were a regular thing and giant sewer rats, ghouls and… ugh 'anarchists' started attacking people along with a whole menagerie of mutated wildlife and other misshaped monstrosities, so they send the army to try and get this under control but up starters and anarchists with the power to chuck flaming rocks and crap start a full on civil war and actually push back the soldiers, or enough to rattle some cages cause then it turned into an extermination, real nasty.

All I know is everything was fucked after that, everything started changing, animals were getting bigger and more dangerous, even the plants were starting to attack, hang on I got a couple of stories about that, more people start showing up to fight off the soldiers and the soldiers were calling for reinforcements but all they got was static, I'm not sure how or why but most forms of communication won't carry over past this dead-zone, that's what we call it her in the walls.

So while all that's going down, I'm just trying to get me and Luce away from it all, a month later we make it out of Washington and start traveling south. Eventually we make it to California and that's when we found out that the good old US of A erected a wall, can you believe it, I saw it out in the distance and at night if you can climb high enough you can see a pale blue lining, that's the wall.

From what little I could get from the boys stationed in the dead-zone, that bomb spread it's mutagens almost everywhere via carried by the wind into a lot of other states and the same thing was happening in a lot of places, bunch of outposts and detention centers sprang up after that, but when things weren't calming down and coms were still out, the people running this 'great country of ours' decide to keep it contained and wait until everything settles down before they actually do something, yep they locked in their own guys without anyway for word to get back to them in a cage with a bunch of nuts, some with powers that make anti-tank artillery look like goddamn toys, it's insane.

But as much shit that's been going down here, it wasn't all bad, things are better, well sort of, depends where you go these days, lots of city's are abandoned or destroyed and stand as war-zones, a few towns and settlements here and there. We still got cars and electricity so that's neat but no tv and no conventional means of communication other than local radio towers so that sucks.

We met a lot of colorful people here, like Captain Rogers, real courageous man, kind of a tool but he got me and Luce out of Washington so I guess I kind of owe him, hope he's okay. Then that bitch Augustine, fucking military lapdog, she's some kind of geomancer and really got under my skin but she made a mistake coming after us, we sent her packing with her tail between her legs. She's not even the worst, there was that hellfire cl-…

Never mind." Lincoln takes a deep breath and closes his eyes and tries to remember some of the better times.

X

At age 15 and 12, Lincoln and Lucy in winter clothing try make their way through a forest in Oregon as they come across a big tree with a humanoid face on it. They make conversation with it as Lucy names it Yggdrasil, they leave with an abundance of fruits and smiles on their faces knowing even in this crazy world kindness was not limited to people but also nature itself.

They meet drifters and bikers who teach them about the greatest life fulfilling pleasure of riding a motorcycle, they part ways as Lincoln and Lucy find their own abandoned bike.

They two start seeing the only sustainable way to get anything seems to be dealing with the army, they learn the army is cutoff from the outside and begin drafting able bodies to keep order going by militia from then on, some even took in mutants, Lincoln and Lucy were rejected for age at the time but eventually the age requirement would be a non-factor in later years.

The duo encounter settlements, some were good to them, some hated mutants and shot on sight, in one of the better ones they met Smitty, a foreman of the militia in charge of a work camp that included constructing outposts, farming and expanding the settlement, he put the two to work, it was bitter and no one spared them any sympathy but they were well fed and slept in warm beds until they decided to move on.

Lucy, being extra sensitive to the feelings of others encounters a puppy and talks Lincoln into taking him in, he names the pup 'Trashcan', a place he would hide whenever he got spooked.

~X~

At age 17 and 14, Lincoln looks worse for wear as his face is nearly beaten to a pulp and Lucy along with a group of kids attempt to clean him while trying to keep their lunches down as they make an effort to ignore his entrails leaking from the massive gaping holes in his abdomen and torso then he blacks out.

Lincoln wakes up underground and climbs out of a hole to see that it was a recently dug up as a tear stricken Lucy looks up with her red puffy eyes and quivering form.

After he stands from his 'grave' Lucy rushes to him and hugs him for dear life pleading for it not to be a dream and Lincoln tells her that he's not allowed to die, not until they get back home.

Lincoln's 'resurrection' comes with new powers as he feels every part of himself getting stronger.

~X~

At age 18 and 15, in Arizona Lincoln comforts Lucy after a horrible dream, one she hasn't had in over a year, he holds her and tells her that he's here and isn't going anywhere. They don't speak to one another for the rest of the day.

He's been noticing Lucy starting to fill out her clothes and occasionally he sneaks a glance at her, sometimes she calls him out on it and he looks away.

They meet another talking tree with a human like face but it attacks them, attempts to kill the two like it had many others as evident by the mass graveyard beside it and bodies strung up its branches, Lucy tries to use diplomacy and make peace but it begins strangling her with a root from underground and Lincoln lights it up with an energy blast, both white and shimmering, the thing screams in agony as it slowly dies. Lucy holds Lincoln and remembers him being the only person she can trust.

Lincoln and Lucy unofficially start working with militia for credits, a form of pay that's accepted among other outpost camps and areas run by militia.

~X~

At age 19 and 16, Lincoln and Lucy hunt down some kind of giant with parasites, easy prey for them, they become infamous among other mutants for how powerful they are compared to most with Lincoln being the more brutal of the two and Lucy's frightening telekinetic prowess earning them various monikers, most notably the 'witch and her demon' rumored to be a pair of unknowns but with their features being so common and no noticeable deformities, they pass off as regular mutants most of the time.

The two decide to head back to Las Vegas to put some of their 'demons' to rest.

While in Nevada, the two find a cult dedicated to them (he's not comfortable remembering how he had to deal with them).

Still in Nevada, Lincoln single-handedly beats down two the most powerful mutants in the dead-zone and a group amassed at about 500, none of them pushovers and effectively ending a civil war between mutants that was started by someone Lincoln and Lucy thought dead.

Lincoln displays a wide range of abilities that people say he shouldn't have, while most that saw it as proof and cemented him as a monster that stands above mutant kind, some getting rather fanatical.

Lucy continues to turn down boys and girls who approach her, Lincoln tries to encourage her to date and she becomes noticeably angry with him, he tries to make it up to her with a 'fake date' that slowly becomes more and more real. Lincoln starts feeling something and not just in himself but in Lucy that is confirmed when she makes a pass at him.

Lincoln and Lucy share their first kiss and agree to take it slow.

The two meet a tiny black cat and Lucy once again convinces Lincoln to adopt, this time she would name their new companion.

~X~

At age 20 and 17, Lincoln and Lucy are in bed feverishly making out and as Lincoln is on top of her about to penetrate, she has a flash of images then throws and holds him against a wall nearly crushing his ribs.

She tearfully tries to apologize as he attempts to console her.

2 weeks later they make their way to Colorado having to ditch their newest motor bike and Lucy has been trying to bridge the physical barrier between them by enticing him. (That was just a week ago)

~X~

At age 16 and 13, Trashcan is killed by raiders, Lincoln kills all of them in blinding rage, he would never be the same.

Lincoln watches as Lucy and her 'boyfriend' abandons Lincoln and takes off with all their supplies.

Lincoln finds them 4 days later, Lucy having been ditched and left at the mercy of a group of S&M leather cladded women that just stare at her as she falls to the floor and the same thing happens to him. (no)

Lincoln is beaten and broken while he is missing his left arm and is stabbed in multiple areas (**no**) as he is forced to watch his sister stripped nude held down as a ma- (**NO!**)

~XxX Back to Now XxX~

***INHALE* *EXHALE***

"So what was I talking about again, forget it, so me and Luce met lots of people, some of them good, some not so much, and every time we ran into someone who was bigger and stronger than us, we'd find a way out of that mess and get stronger for it. The long short of it is we've survived the worst and now we're the best and that's not arrogance talking we can back it up.

I'll be honest I got more powers than I know what to do with and if I were to break 'em down for you we'd be here all day. Thankfully Lucy's is more manageable, as you no doubt seen, she's got telekinesis and you might recall a bit of it earlier in my recap but she's also an empath and if you're not comic savvy like me, that's not telepathy, she can read and influence emotions so to speak, she can pick up on what you're feeling and if you're being honest or however she put it, beats me.

She can do something else with her mind, I forgot what she called it but I just call it mind-sight, she sees with her mind I guess but usually when she's sitting still and that's just about it. I mean I have like a bunch powers but I guess she doesn't need that many, not when you can do the things she can, oh boy.

I mean she can pick up boulders no problem, put everyone in a daze like they're drugged out, it's hard just to get near her with that force field up and she's like a lie detector, she's usually how we know it's safe to approach people.

But I've found out the hard way that we're not alike, when she gets hurt, that stays… like a normal person, me, I get stabbed through the chest or anywhere else important and I can walk that off, her, she dies" He takes a moment to look at her sleeping form, Lucy and Salem peacefully rest as he looks away and goes back to his backpack.

Lincoln pulls out a blood stained, black and white checkered collar, Trashcan's collar. He was a brown and white beagle with black spots, the thing looked mangy and gross when Lucy found him, it was a common occurrence, Lucy wanting to adopt a random animal, with her being empathic she was as she put it 'Especially attuned to the suffering of others' and though she couldn't read minds, Lucy could sort of pick up on what you felt and understand what you were 'telling' her, she makes it a habit to respond like you were conversing with her, all without you having to say anything, she could transmit her feelings to you and have you know or even feel what she's feeling, in short you could have a conversation with Lucy without using words, raw emotion, no lies, no misinterpretations just feelings.

When Lucy presented Trashcan to Lincoln, he told her no, like so many other times but this time was different for Lucy, maybe because the poor thing was sick and she could feel it or maybe she knew Lincoln was tired of saying no and really wanted the pup too. Whatever the case, in a battle of wills, Lincoln's crumbled beneath the combined puppy dog eyes of Trashcan and Lucy, the first of very few times he ever saw from her, he gave in and life was better for it.

Lincoln was initially against a pet knowing what goes into one, the extra food and care that goes into him, to not only keep him safe but themselves too. Lincoln and Lucy felt the familiar feeling of unconditional love, the kind they've been in need of for some time since leaving Smitty's work camp, but all good things must come to an end.

One year, one fucking year was all they got with Trashcan, it went from being a smol boy to a big boy in the blink of an eye and though it meant having to get more food, life was pleasant… enough. There is a rule when finding animals, 'Check for tags', if they belong to someone, leave it be, chances are you piss off a lot of people when you kill their pets on accident, but Trashcan was no accident.

It was just a random afternoon, it was sunny, peaceful, Lincoln and Lucy were in a quiet settlement when suddenly a bullet zipped by and pierced Trashcan's neck as a flurry of bullets rained down on the place and took out as many gun toting army boys as possible. When everyone had taken cover, Lincoln had to watch as his dog bled out in front of him, Lucy wasn't with them at the moment, it was just Lincoln, comforting his dying dog, listening to him whine in pain and breathe his lasts breaths. When Trashcan's body went cold, something broke inside of Lincoln and he took the fight to the raiders.

Raiders, groups of people who move from place to place and take what they need however they want, people Lincoln had very little sympathy towards.

In less than five minutes, they were dead, all of them, 25 men and women, Lincoln was torn up and riddled with bullets but he didn't care, it was done, he was done with them. He made his way back to camp and everyone just stared at him, it was obvious, seeing a 16 year old mutant kill of a group of people singlehandedly alarmed them, Lucy being the exception… at the time and that would be the first of many instances of Lincoln's murderous rage which would drive a wedge between Lincoln and Lucy but eventually even that was mended.

Lincoln snaps out of his daze and puts the collar back in the bag as he looks back outside to see dawn breaking and hears Lucy groaning as she wakes up.

"Morning Lucy." Lincoln says with a bright smile on his face.

"Good mor- wait, Morning?" She asks sternly as she looks out to the sun greeting her, "You took the entire shift again?" She gets up and marches over to Lincoln, "How many times have we been over this, you don't need to take care of me anymore, I'm not your sister anymore, I'm your-"

"I know, I know you're my girlfriend now."

"I'm your PARTNER, I can pull my own weight, I can look out for us too, or I thought you believed that." She said dejected and he could feel it.

"Look you were tired if you sleeping through the entire night tells me anything and I can go days without sleep, you know that, this wasn't about protecting you, it was about you getting proper rest-"

"That's not the point, you need to let me help you, you're not alone in this anymore, you don't need to carry that burden by yourself, don't you trust me?" Lincoln's eyes widen a bit.

"Of course I do, I just…" He mumbles something under his breath.

"What was that?" Lucy asks both in anger and curiosity.

"I just didn't want to sleep tonight." Lucy pauses for a moment and opens her mouth.

"Are you having that dream again Lincoln?" She asks with curiosity.

"Yeah but I'll be fine, it's nothing-"

"It's not 'nothing' if it's keeping you up, do you want to talk about it?" Lucy asks knowing what dream plagues her love.

"Nah, we should get ready to move on out if we want to make time."

"… Alright Lincoln." She lets him have his way '_for now_'.

In the early years it was often that Lincoln had few days he could sleep, people didn't care if you were kids or if you were tired, if anyone thought for even a second you had something worth taking then you had a target on your back and any danger was essentially doubled at night. Fortunately Lincoln's healing extended to all parts of him, including his brain, reducing the need to rest and cutting down the fatigue immensely, Lincoln had stamina to spare so he could continue any activity for long periods of time and paired with night vision, Lincoln could see the danger coming with no problem what so ever.

Lately ever since Lincoln and Lucy became a thing she had been adamant about 'pulling her weight' when it came to Lincoln's night watch or anything related to his protective nature. Even before they started dating she hasn't referred to Lincoln as her brother in years, this concerned Lincoln greatly until the revelation of their mutual attraction towards one another came forward but now it's as if Lucy is trying to wipe all traces of familial ties in their relationship, maybe it's better this way.

"So, we good?" Lincoln asked.

"I don't know," She pouts and turns slightly, "But you might be able to convince me to let you off the hook this time." She ended with a grin.

"Oh, well I know how to fix that." He walks over to her and turns her head to his as he locks lips with her, she was melting into it until her eyes snapped open and pushed him off.

"You had one, ALREADY?!" She angrily asked tasting ash on his breath.

"Uhh… yeah, sorry about that, hehe." He chuckled nervously, she does not like the taste of nicotine and tobacco in the morning or really ever.

"Sigh, let's just get ready."

Lincoln turns to the bags and suddenly Lucy appears to his side startling him as she often did in the past (the _how_ is still a complete mystery to him) and gives him a peck on the cheek parting with smile on her face. That lasted all of two seconds before she let out a surprised yelp as Lincoln swatted her ass, she turns back to glare at his shit-eating grin, he just couldn't help himself.

-**_XxX_**-

Currently their bags were packed and Lincoln was brushing Lucy's hair as she was brushing Salem, just because you're living through the end-times doesn't mean you can't take an interest in your appearance.

Salem was easy to manage, she's been small for a long time almost no change in size, a full grown cat and she can still fit in between Lucy's palms. She purrs gently as Lucy finishes grooming her, the Loud duo are just glad it isn't bath day, Salem turns into a real monster and just hides in their shadows, she's a real bitch to clean up after getting soaked in filthy water but she's still around so that has to count for something.

While Lincoln barely brushes or combs his own hair, it's still better than having to tend to a bunch of it like Lucy. At full length her hair reaches her mid-back, it's kept neat and experience had taught Lincoln how to be delicate with a lady's hair if he wants to keep living, but man was this getting tedious. It wasn't every day that Lincoln tended to Lucy's mane but he wasn't doing anything else.

"Man you got a lot of hair Luce, you planning on cutting it any time soon?" As he asked that the room got noticeably colder and a chill went up his spine while Salem leapt off Lucy's lap.

"No, why do you ask?" Lucy asked with an edge to her voice.

"N-no reason, I just remembered you looked cute with shorter hair." He panicked as a bead sweat ran down his forehead.

Lucy's mood lightened as a smile formed on her face and Lincoln could feel the mood easing too.

"Well, thank you but that's still a no." She said.

'_You got lucky Linc_,' He thought to himself as he goes back to brushing and hears Lucy chuckle.

"Hmm?" He tries to get her attention.

"It's nothing just remembering when you had long hair." They both share a laugh.

"Oh my God, don't remind me, it got caught in everything." He chuckles.

"And guys kept asking if you were my sister."

The empty building echoed with their laughter as they enjoyed their relative peace.

-**_XxX_**-

The trio are making their way down the desolate road walking side by side, though anyone watching won't be able to see it, Lucy has erected a telekinetic dome over them like an umbrella. Lincoln and Lucy are snaking on some jerky from their rations.

Although Lucy's face gives nothing away, Lincoln's obviously tells you that he is just done with jerky, they've had this for breakfast for the last week straight, jerky and canned goods, that's all they had left of their MRE's, if they had known most of Colorado was such a mess, they would have thought to stock up more. Not even so much as an outpost stationed anywhere in the straight line they made through the state and after they ran out of gas, they had to leave their bike behind, no use lugging that thing around when there was nothing for miles not even drifters to hitch a ride from or raiders looking to steal it.

Speaking of bikes, Lincoln and Lucy had gone through nearly a dozen or so motor bikes over the years and admittedly even if given the choice between a car and a motorcycle the couple would still choose the cycle.

Lincoln let's out an audible sigh.

"What's wrong Lincoln?" Lucy asks.

"It's nothing just, kinda wishing we still had our bike, it'd really make this easier."

"Sigh, I know what you mean, I too miss riding upon our metal chariot, the wind in my hair, the engine purring like that of a beast- *****"The vibrating seat"***** the vibrat- NO!" She yells as Lincoln lets out a laugh.

"Yeah I'll miss the old Loud Hog #7, but she ran out of fuel and all the other cars were stripped clean already, we couldn't drag it along, I mean we could but I didn't want to, better to just hide it and keep moving."

"Sigh"

-**_XxX_**-

A few hours later, the trio see something ahead. Some kind of tall barricade made with trucks and cars stacked on top of each other, it looks like it stretches from left to right for miles and behind the barricade is a wire gate.

"Lincoln, do you suppose that was there for the deathclaws?" Lucy asked.

"Maybe, it could also be for anything really, maybe there's people, maybe ther-" He pauses as he looks up.

Lincoln sees a blur zip by and takes a few steps back and the blur stops as Lincolns identifies a young woman, blonde, peachy skin tone, white crop-top t-shirt and blue overall shorts.

He blinks wide-eyed and dumbfounded as the girl looks back to him and he sees the surprise in her bright blue eyes and flies back down to the ground as Lincoln loses track of her.

"I- did you see that luce?" He asked her.

"No, what happened?"

"There was a girl and she was flying."

"Interesting, I guess there's people then." Lucy concluded.

Now that the two knew there were people and maybe other mutants they were reinvigorated with the drive to reach this new 'hopefully pleasant' settlement.

"Then I guess you know the drill?" Lincoln said to Lucy.

She nodded and fixed her hair so her front bangs covered her eyes as Lincoln pulled out a pair of black shades and slips them on. Sure the skin might give them away for anyone who questions it but at least people can go about their business, not gawk and make a scene.

Lincoln made his way up the piles of cars, and as he makes it to the top he looks back to where Lucy was and sees she's gone, he goes stone-faced and looks to the other side and finds Lucy and Salem on the other side of the gate as he sighs.

"So did you go over or under this time?" He asks lamely.

She grins and walks away as Lincoln jumps over the gate and lands silently.

With her telekinesis Lucy can easily lift herself over the car pile and be done with the obstacle and Salem can pull people and objects into her shadow, move about and reemerge past obstructions.

Either one of the trio could have demolished the piled-up makeshift barricade, the gate and anything else in their path but for the sake of 'appearing normal' they took the extra effort to leave the divider intact.

Seconds within their first steps past the gate and they could feel the air was different, behind the gate they come from was a dry cold atmosphere that wreaked of death but on the other side the air was cool, not cold but cool and crisp and it was filled with life if you were to compare it to the air behind the gate, you could even begin to hear birds chirping, fucking weird.

A few hours later the two Louds make their way down a dirt road and are surprised when the barren fields give way to foliage and soon they see a farm. A big red barn with an equally large silo beside a field filled with crops all encompassed by a wooden fence, and just outside of the fence is a big house, a beige-ish color and as the Louds make their way towards the house they pass a sign reading 'Kent Farms'.

**END**

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**[I am still too close to the beginning of the story to do any AN worth writing which sucks because I really want to be more interactive with the readers or anyone who wants to hear my rambling. So anyway I planned most this story in advanced as I believe you should lest you get fed up with what you're doing in FF, I have my beginning, middle and end figured out, my A-Z it's just writing from A to B that that's actually hard for me, does anyone feel that way when they write?**

**On another note, in the description I wrote that this was my first story posted and while that's not un-true here on FF, it's still not true. I used to write crappy fanfics on deviant art like 8 years ago but I never really cared much to go back and improve and I was too embarrassed to read comments and had way too much of a fragile ego to take criticism then.**

**On tumblr I got into my SMUT phase and kinda went all out there, but I didn't care for any messages sent my way because I still couldn't take criticism and just stopped posting for a few years and after the you know what in tumblr 2018 that account got deleted and now that I want the criticism it's irrelevant at this point, now I'm here at FF trying to write and improve for the sake of wanting to be better.**

**I'm planning for this story to be long (maybe a few years long) so I can see my own improvement but not regret what I've written previously. But on a more important note this story is going to be 70% serious plot driven story and 30% smut overall and as we get way further down the line the sexual content will become more apparent and frequent so if that's not your cup of tea, you've been vaugely warned.**

**Also somewhere down the line in the story we'll have a more in-depth review of mutants and how they are organized.**

**Thank you for reading]**


	6. Chapter 5

**[First let me say I am sorry it's come out this late, something unexpected went down and deleted just about all my pre-written work for this and a few later chapters. More at the bottom]**

**[In advanced I want to say back in the beginning when I said I don't like using OC's, it wasn't because I hate them but my imagination isn't quite at the level to create new characters on the fly and be done with them when I have no more use for them, that's why I pull from other sources like games and comics - mind you when I said this fanfic would involve characters from marvel and dc etc, I'm not bringing the world of the loud house into marvel and dc or vice versa, it's more like cameos, so I butcher the lore in order to fit my world while creating an original story that blends lots of sources and I hope not a lot of people hate it]**

****[Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or anything really, if I did then I'd consider myself successful]****

Posted 12/10/19

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-Chapter 5-

-**Kent House**-

-Morning-

Within the house near the barn resides the Kent family, in the dining room sits an older man with greying hair, Jonathan Kent, in a rolled up white shirt and jeans he reads a book while waiting for breakfast.

Currently on the stove is Jonathan's wife Martha making eggs, bacon and pancakes, typical breakfast for a typical morning. She has light brown hair with streaks of grey running across and is in a pink blouse and jeans.

The sound of footsteps can be heard coming down the stairs as a tall young adult male with black hair and blue eyes makes his way over to Martha and gives her a peck on the cheek. He's wearing an open red flannel over a blue t-shirt and jeans (a running theme here on the farm).

"Morning ma, oh that smells great!" He tells her.

"Good morning Clark." Martha greets her son with her usual cheerfulness as her husband speaks up.

"Good to see you up son," He takes a moment to look over to his son and sees no one else, "Where's the rest?" He asks.

"Karen's up and in the shower, Conner's uh-" He pauses.

"Right here." Came a disinterested voice followed by a young man in a black shirt and jeans who looks remarkably like Clark but there were noticeable bags under his eyes and he lets out big yawn.

"Didn't get enough sleep son?" Asked Pa Kent as Conner grunts and Clark gets a look at him, "Or maybe you were in them fight pits again." Jonathan says sternly.

Conner says, "I don't know what-"

"You weren't in bed last night or in the barn, you're tired and your knuckles have bruises." Mr. Kent deduces.

Clark glares towards Conner before asking, "I thought we told you to stop going there-" He's cutoff as Conner speaks up.

"And I thought I told you I don't care, you don't tell me what to do!" He shouts.

"Boy, just because you can keep up with the rest of them doesn't mean you should be going down there." His father tells him.

"Keep up, I'm the one they should be afraid of, I rule down there!" Conner says as his mother begins.

"Hun, we're just worried about you-"

"Well don't, I can take care of myself down there-" Conner says until he's stopped by another voice.

"At least until someone bigger and stronger shows up and wipes the floor with you cuz'." Came the irritated voice of a woman about Clarks age, she has blonde hair in a bob-cut that reaches her neck, she's in a white tank top that can barely hold her large bust with a red towel draped over her left shoulder and jeans.

Conner just scoffs and walk away.

"Hey Karen." Came the voice of her cousin Clark.

"Hey Clark, hells up with your brother this time?" She asks rather annoyed knowing this isn't the first time he's been caught going to the fight pits.

"Language young lady!" Spoke Ma Kent.

"Sorry Ma" Karen apologizes to her aunt, "Hey Pa," She addresses her uncle.

"Mornin' Karen, how'd you sleep?" Asked her uncle.

"Like a log."

"Good, now where's your sister, usually she's the first one up." Pa Kent wonders.

"That's a good question, Clark, you seen Kara?" Karen asks.

"Nope, was just wondering that myself, truck still out there, you don't think she…" He leaves that thought open as Karen let's out a sigh.

"Of course she's up in the clouds again." Karen speaks in frustration but then her aunt Martha gives her two cents.

"Well you know a girl's gotta fly." And then Karen talks again.

"That's what mom used to say until…" Karen notices her aunt's disheartened expression, *****Sigh*****, "I'm sorry Ma."

"Don't be dear, Carol 'rest her soul' was a pilot and your mother, I know you didn't get a lot of time with her and Kara even less but somehow those two are a lot more alike than I'm comfortable with, I'm sure it must be hard knowing your sister can just take off and come back lord knows when. Just try to be more understanding, she's at that age where she wants to explore what's out there just like Conner."

"At least she doesn't act like Conner." Clark points out as Karen mutters something.

"Thank Christ for small miracles," She says under her breath, "Seriously what's up with him, really?"

Pa Kent answers her, "He's just being a teenager, hard-headed, stubborn and full of emotions he don't understand or wants to talk about. He feels trapped on a barn that's trapped in a small town that's trapped behind walls in a state that's trapped behind an even bigger wall. So yeah, he's a bit rebellious but you both were at that age too." He says to the aghast of his son and niece.

"No way/ _Nope_!" Were the reactions of Clark and Karen.

"You can't be serious Dad, was I as bad as Conner?" Clark asked as his mother responds.

"Oh heavens no, you were much worse." She says chuckling as her husband nods in her favor.

"For real?" Karen asks, she's never seen Clark have so much as a temper tantrum or anything close to a disrespectful disposition aimed at anybody, the complete opposite of his brother.

Pa Kent continues, "That's right, while my boy didn't throw any punches or go to them drinking parties, he was still a teenager and he was more concerned with ladies than we liked him to be, ain't that right darlin'?" He asks much to Clark's embarrassment and Karen's amusement.

"Oh yes, before those walls came up, we were worried Clark would make us grandkids when he was still in school, I'm just glad we gave him the talk." Her husband picks up on that.

"And thank god for that, he must've spent his allowances on protection nearly every week." Then in the midst of their laughter, Clark buts in.

"Oh come on, name one-" He didn't even get to finish that thought.

"Alicia Baker" Martha named.

"_Chloe Sullivan_" Jonathan gave another.

"Lana Lang"

"_Lois Lane_ Before she left, just to name a few." Jonathan finished.

Much to the ire of Clark, he couldn't retort or find something to argue so he just left it at that. Alicia was a good friend and sort of a whirlwind romance that lasted only so long, '_God, she was wild'_.

Chloe was a childhood friend with an enormous crush on him, they're off and on from time to time, '_We were together just a few nights ago too'_.

Lana Lang, childhood sweethearts those two were, on occasion they have intense but brief hookups, '_I think she just broke up with Whitney again'_.

Finally Lois, she's something like Karen, an army brat that moved from place to place, while she was around Clark couldn't help but follow her lead, '_There were no limits with her'_, but after the walls came up no word from one another.

Clark snaps out of his remembrance to the sound of Karen's laughter, then his mother speaks up.

"Don't think we forgot about you dear," Karen immediately goes silent and a look of fright replaces the glee she endorsed in Clark's shortcomings. "Sure your mother wasn't around all that much but when she was, she knew what went on in her house or even found evidence of 'What Happened' through her security system." Karen goes stiff as Clark leans in, eager to hear what his cousin has done.

"Let's see, when Kara was with your father, you had drinking parties and there was that org-" Martha is cutoff by Karen's pleading.

"Okay, okay I get it, please just no more Ma." Karen begs and Martha begins again.

"So maybe you can be a bit more forgiving towards your siblings, you're each what 23, Conner's 15 and Kara just turned 18, it's only natural that they're so riled up, that they'd want to meet someone, go somewhere and do something. No one wants to be cooped up here, soon enough they'll meet someone special and-" Her husband steps in.

"Okay Hun, I think that's enough, you're scaring them with your talk about the future."

And with that they feel some kind of force drop behind the house, a familiar feeling indicating you-know-who just showed up.

"And speaking of Kara." Karen said dejectedly as the back door flew open and a young woman floats in.

She has long blonde hair, is in a white t-shirt and overall jean-shorts.

"Guysyouwon'tbelievewhatIjustsaw!" Kara sped through her words without so much as a breath.

"Whoa slow down baby sis, what happened?" Karen asked, worried what has her sister spooked.

Kara took a breather as she got her family's attention.

"Okay, so I was over the wall, y'know the one you and Clark helped make," *****"You were where?"***** "Eep!" Kara flinched at the familiar, angsty voice of cousin Conner.

Conner stormed back into the kitchen and continued pressing Kara, "Where were you?"

Karen stops him, "Enough Conner, Kara keep going." And she would have, had Conner stopped talking.

"You stay out of it, the way I see it, I'm gone for the night, everyone's got something to say, she can fly over that damn wall and no one even bats an eye!" Conner seems to be boiling over, it's nothing new for the Kent family but this is really starting to get on everyone's nerves.

"At least she doesn't come home covered in bruises." Karen retorts.

"Oh fuck off!" An apt response from a 15 year old who's brain is just swimming in testosterone.

"Language, Conner!" Martha can tolerate a lot of unsavory things in her home but vile language is not one of them.

And thus chaos ensues as Conner, Karen, Kara, Jonathan and Martha engage in a shouting match until the normally mild mannered Clark Kent had it and stomps his foot.

"**ENOUGH!**" He roared as the house rocks for a bit and then settles.

Conner glared at his older brother but one look from Clark shuts down any fight in him.

No one said anything, a rare moment for Clark to let loose any noticeable anger but as of Late, Conner's been testing the Limits of his brother's restraint. As much as Conner can talk a big game, Clark is the real beast between the two.

*****INHALE***** *****EXHALE***** "Kara would you please tell us why you went over the wall, you know what those things would do to you if they got a hold of you." He tells in the calmest tone he can muster and everyone let's out a breath they didn't know they were holding onto.

Jonathan went back to reading his book as the young ones took their seats and Martha begins passing out breakfast.

Kara begins telling them that she woke up floating over her bed, a regular occurrence as of late. It was dawn when she wanted to 'stretch her wings' and so she casually flies up to _The Cloud_ (or as close as she could get) when something caught her attention, out of the corner of her eye she saw something move and she turned to see she was already past the wall.

She briefly paused her story to hear her family lecture her on how irresponsible and scatterbrained she was to just fly past the barricade.

Kara then continues that out of fear she hides behind a building but then spies two blurs just walking, Karen asks if was one of those deathclaws, Kara shook her head in objection and against her better judgment, 'not that she had any good judgment' snided Conner only to be leered at by his brother and cousins but he just ignores them. Kara goes on to say that she flew behind the ruined buildings to see two people and a cat just walking down without so much as a care.

Conner asks if they might be raiders while Clark is curious as to why the two were even traveling there in the first place.

The barricade was erected because of a large group of deathclaws and mutated animals were tearing their way through El Paso and the people there had the idea to evacuate down the Kent's way which is how they found out. Armed forces along with the combined efforts of Clark, Conner and Karen pushed back the band of deathclaws and took down a couple before stacking a bunch of vehicles at least a meter high.

Though it wouldn't be enough to keep that giant green one back, the wall of cars would be enough for anything smaller than those deathclaws and would give the Kents breathing room. Surprisingly even with that threat looming over them they refused to abandon their home.

Kara gets back to her story, she didn't want to press her luck not running into any deathclaws at the moment and so she flies back home but in trying to rush back she completely forgot about stealth and was spotted by the male and she couldn't help but pause to get a better look at him much to the disappointment of her sister for even stopping but what caught everyone's attention was her description of the two.

Though she didn't get a good look at the woman, Kara noted that she was deathly pale and had black hair. The man she got a good look at especially when he looked right at her, he was tall tanned, strong build, had white hair, armed and was handsome, she let that last one slip out as Karen and Martha raised a brow and smirked in a teasing motion as Conner asks Kara to get back to her findings.

Kara noted that the man had glowing yellow eyes and that she flew back home to tell them what happened.

-**_XxX_**-

Breakfast passed and after briefly tending to the fields, Jonathan and Clark came back to the house to see Conner arguing with Karen over who knows what this time.

The two Kent men see Conner storm out of the house and Karen going upstairs until Jonathan calls out to her.

"What happened this time?" Clark asks as Karen huffs.

"He's really pushing it, stomping around like he owns the place and tells me I can't leave like he's gonna do something." She looks at her uncle, "I know you and Ma said he's just being a teenager but if tries any of that shit on me again it lights out for him!"

As she makes her declaration her fist begins to glow with a vibrant yellow aura.

Karen takes a breath as the glow dies down and she sighs.

"I'm taking Ma and Kara into town." She tells the boys as she makes her way to the keys on the table.

"Everything alright with you three?" Says Jonathan, curious about half of his family leaving at the moment.

"Yeah, just picking up a few things, that and we're kind of running low on some… products." Karen replies.

"Products?" Clark asks as his father places a hand on his shoulder.

"Lady stuff son." Jonathan says a matter-of-factly.

Clarks eyes widen a smidge in embarrassment over something personal yet obvious and in an ironic manner for someone his age is a bit flustered for having an adult female problem explained to him like he was a child again.

"Ah, well, a-alright then." He stutters a little and tries to be the gentleman his parents raised, "You three need a lift?"

Karen can only laugh at her cousin's failure to be casual, "I think… the three of us… can manage." She tells him in between her laughs, but then it dies down, "But if you want to help maybe you can get 'Mr. ~Everyone should be afraid of me'~ off our backs."

At this point Jonathan lets out a sigh, he knew dealing with four kids would be a hassle but four _Mutants_, one of which is still a teenager in his rebellious phase.

"That boy, I swear one of these days he's gonna say the wrong thing to the wrong person and find himself digging up his own grave-" He stops as Karen speaks up.

"Uh, that day might be today Pa!" She says pointing at a window.

"Wha-"

** *BOOM***

A shockwave rocks the Kent house for the second time today. The three looks outside to see what happened, Martha rushes out from the kitchen as Kara flies out from her room and sees her family rushing out side.

-**Conner**-

-Earlier-

Conner was making his way through the fields to try and vent if only to get away from Karen, she was pissing him off way too much.

"There could be two Raiders coming our way and that bitch really just wants to head into town like she heard nothing!" He silently screams to himself, "Am I the only one taking this seriously!?"

He takes a moment to breathe as he hears a crunching sound a ways from the farm and spies two people and a cat, all walking towards his home.

Conner tries to keep himself hidden and get a better look at his 'guests'.

His eyes narrow as he sees the exact people Kara was talking about.

They guy, '_He's not so tall_' he pouts and thinks to himself most likely in jealousy, '_Yep he's got to be a mutant, hair alone is a dead giveaway and those shades gotta be for his eyes_.' Conner concludes.

Upon the next inspection he can tell Kara was right, he's a bit on the muscular side and he's armed to the teeth, _'Sheesh someone's overcompensating'_, yeah this guys is a threat but nothing he can't handle himself.

His eyes focus on the second person and his eyes widen and he looks away for a split second. That ominous black hair covering her face and skin white as bone, '_Man that is cree_-' he pauses as his eyes travel downwards towards her chest, _'… she's gonna give Karen a run for her money.'_

His mind continues to drift only to be brought back to reality when a voice breaks the hypnotic trance the woman had over him.

"Excuse me young man, if you're not too busy staring off into space do you think you could help us?" It sounded more like a playful jab than a question but that was all it took to set Conner off (go figure).

Conner let's out a bit of a growl.

"… Okay, well I don't know who peed in your cereal today but perhaps I should just introduce us, I'm Lin-" He's cutoff as Conner snarled.

"**I**… don't care!" Conner tried to sound intimidating and failing as the man in front of him speaks again.

"Oh, so he does speak, you hear that Luce." Conner looks at the woman briefly and her mouth (the only visible part of her face) doesn't so much as twitch, giving no indication that she even acknowledged the man. "But for real, is there an adult I can talk to, preferably one with manners, you know someone like that kid?"

Now this asshole was just asking for it, Conner was already steaming from Karen and now some chump from butt-fucking nowhere wants to go, this is just what the doctor ordered, Conner was just waiting for an opening.

"…" No one said anything as Conner just glared at the guy and bared his teeth like some kind of animal.

"… Jeez Luce, you think this one's broken or something?" the guy asks as he turned his head toward his female companion and that's when Conner struck, he threw out a right hook to the back of the man's head.

In waiting for the inevitable collision, Conner had for just a moment blinked and when he opened them he saw the man was gone and his fist met with the air and suddenly a voice came from behind.

"Y'know that's not very nice, *****"Ahh"***** striking a man with his back turned, I've met raiders more honorable than that, boy." The man's voice sent a chill down Conner's spine.

Conner turned and saw the man was behind him, this time Conner was paying attention to his voice, it was husky but not nasally, thick but not gravelly, it was deep but not loud, the kind of voice that carries over a crowd and doesn't need to yell to silence a room, it channeled the kind of authority that teachers wish they had.

Conner ignored this unusual sense of dread that was lingering around him.

"Get the FUCK off my property!" Conner yelled trying to work up his anger and shake off the panic from earlier.

The man is unfazed as he just rolls his eyes (not that Conner would know) and takes a step forward, this put Conner on edge and puts his fists up, then the man speaks again.

"Okay look, we're not here to fight, we're just looking for directions to the nearest town or the closest thing to one, so if you can show us the way, we'll be out of your hair sooner, which I'm sure is better for you, I mean seriously you look like you got off the wrong side of the bed this morning, so… help a guy out?"

As much as the man was trying to be 'reasonable' Conner really can't take his teasing and starts huffing and getting red.

"Aaand, that's what I'm talking about, look kid I don't start fights with 9 year olds so can the attitude and just tell me what I need to know and I'm gone okay?" The man's playful tone leaving and replaced with something irksome.

With that Conner let's out a yell and charges at the man with a violent right straight punch.

***BOOM***

The impact kicks up dirt and the ground around them rumbles as Conner looks to see his punch easily caught in the stranger's left hand.

"Y'know, I really don't make it my business to kick the crap out of defenseless little shits but you're starting to piss me off and that's a different story, and seeing as you're a big strong mutant I guess I really shouldn't feel bad about this now." The man voiced is fixed with a dark grin that promised never ending pain.

Fear takes hold of Conner as he tries to pull back his arm just fell the man's vice grip on his fist tighten. The stranger adds more pressure that's followed by a few pops as Conner voices a strained gasp and falls to his knees.

In an urgent and desperate attempt to free himself, Conner foolishly tries to grab onto the man's left arm with his free hand only for the man to catch Conner's wrist and squeeze down hard.

Conner yells out in pain as the strain on his knuckles and wrists are getting to him and they even feel like they're catching fire.

"CONNER!" Came the voice of Jonathan the Kent family patriarch.

Conner and his 'assailants' turn to see the mixed reactions of the Kent family ranging from sheer anger to a bit of shock and fear.

Clark stomps over to the three in a sprint only to run smack-first into an invisible wall.

Conner looks over to his brother who is straight up punching the wall and see the ground around him is giving way to the tremors caused by Clark.

He then looks over to the man who gave the woman a look and she nodded, she raised he hand and Clark was raised off the ground away from the rest of his family.

Conner was even more shocked and frightened by just who he was dealing with. He suddenly felt the man's grip on his arms leave and pulls himself away just to see said man walk towards his family and panics.

Conner rushed to the man only to hear an unusual voice send chills down his spine.

_"STOP"_

It was monotonous and feminine, it lacked any emotion but was filled with authority, barely a whisper but more than enough for Conner to guess who said it.

With that Conner fell to his knees and as much as he tried to resist, a relaxing sensation took hold of him as his mind went quiet and his eyes dilated.

-**The Kents**-

Fear held most of the family, seeing their youngest at the mercy of two strangers and one of them kept Clark out of their reach as the other one made his way towards the rest of them.

Kara was taught to stay away from situations like this but she couldn't so much as lift off the ground left alone mover her legs, she was firmly planted, '_Oh god what's happening?!_' she yells to herself.

Karen has never seen this before, well two mutants were nothing new but just one of them handling Conner like he really was just a normal child was a rarity, she'd never say it out loud but Conner was a force to be reckoned with, he still had nothing on her and Clark but Conner's definitely no pushover.

'_Who the fuck are these people_' Karen thought to herself as she looked over to Clark, and there was this chick, creepy as hell but fuck it all if what's-her-face didn't make Karen want to run. She just yanked Clark nearly 10 feet of the ground and then Karen looks back to her baby sister, '_Why isn't she leaving?_' She almost screams out loud as she looks menacingly towards the man approaching them.

Jonathan and Martha have seen drifters and raiders come to their farm a few times in fact Jonathan was shot in the leg by one before Clark got his hands on the guy but right now she was terrified beyond anything, their boys were taken out of the fight before it 'began' Martha can only imagine how Jonathan was keeping himself together so well.

Meanwhile Jonathan could barely move but he knew he couldn't run, his only option was to reason with this boy and hope they could talk it out and before he knew it he was already face to face with one of the mutants that is probably just as strong as his oldest.

As the man was about to speak, two golden beams came bursting from the hands of Karen, one made its way to the man in front of her uncle and the other to the wannabe Morticia Addams.

The first beam met its target and surprise surprise, the second came close to the bitch who put her cousin under her hypnotic vampire spell but another invisible wall had blocked the blast, splitting it in four different streams.

Karen tenses up and looks back towards her uncle while attempting to call him over but is stunned to see the man who she knows got blasted standing his ground.

She kept pouring more into her beam but he wasn't moving instead it feels like, '_Shit it's not hitting him, he's soaking it up like a sponge!_' She thinks as terror and panic began taking hold.

Karen takes a look at the man as she stopped blasting. The bright yellow beams that were fired at him looked like they were being pulled into the palm of his right hand, burning away his glove and singing his sleeve past his wrist.

The Kents shrink a bit as they feel a tightening around their throats and look onto the woman who has her right arm stretched out towards them as her left was aimed at Clark.

They began to fear the worst before they saw the man turn to his companion and signaled her with a hand to stop and so she does. The pressure around the Kents was alleviated as they saw Clark being lowered down gently.

The man speaks to them, "Now that was just excessive." He looks at his arm and sighs, "See this is why we can't have nice things, Luce!" With that he addresses the Kents.

"So I know this looks bad but would you believe me if I said that young man started it?" He asked as he pointed to Conner who was still in a trance.

At this point the entirety of the Kent family dropped their despondent aura, went stoned-faced and each glared at Conner.

Martha just sighed.

"…Yeah." Came the dejected voices of Jonathan and Clark as they look down.

"Of-Fucking-Corse!" Karen yelled out in a hoarse manner while pinching the bridge between her eyes.

Kara shrugged her shoulders, raised her arms and quickly nodded in a way that just said 'yep'.

"Oh… well good." Said the man, "I was beginning to think I set him off by introducing ourselves, then he just sort of growled at me like some kind of animal, is that normal for you guys?" He asked.

Kara answered him, "Yeah kinda, I'm Kara by the way." She slowly waved over.

"Oh hey, I remember you, you're that flying girl I saw earlier." Then he removed his lone glove.

His face sprang a surprised look, "But where are my manners, I'm Lincoln and that wolf in sheep's clothing is Lucy." He takes a moment to study Kara's face as she raised an eyebrow, "No really, she may look all sunshine and rainbows but don't let that fool you, underneath is a cold engine of darkness and logic." He says sporting a dumb crooked grin.

"As much, ***Ahh*** as I appreciate your ingratiating complements Lincoln, I don't think they know you're trying to break the ice with a joke. Plus it wasn't funny." Lincoln fake gasps as he puts a hand on his chest for drama.

"You take that back, I'm hilarious. But seriously we need so-" He pauses as he looks to the family minus the 'tripped out' angry one to see they are trying to regain their breathing. "You guys okay?" He asks.

In between the heavy and erratic deep breathes the tall man steps up to Lincoln and Begins.

"Yeah, yeah, just uhh, where'd she- I mean she just-"

"She came out of nowhere." Lincoln finishes as the guy nods, "Yeah don't worry, she does that all the time, you just learn to get used to it and eventually you adapt, that is if the rampant heart attacks don't get you first." Lincoln says with a bit of a bluntness aimed at Lucy as she gives a sliver of a smile. "But seriously, you gotta stop that Luce."

"Where is the fun in that, unscheduled surprises like mine are but passing thunderbolts, they rarely harm anyone and each passing threat helps you keep an eye out for the unexpected and to be grateful for the life you still have."

"… Uh right, anyway," Lincoln turns to the family of five (six) and sees them rally themselves, he takes a moment to get a good look at them.

The two oldest Lincoln could only assume were the parents, the husband stood at maybe 5'11" and the wife at 5'8". Lincoln is good at guessing height and sizes (the benefits of helping his fashion designer for a sister).

The man he was just talking to was about 6'2" and had a rather large frame, broader than Lincoln's own.

Kara, the girl who introduced herself was roughly the same height as Lucy and though he wasn't an _expert_ on this sort of thing, at first glance her chest seemed to be a C, maybe.

The last girl, the one who shot an energy beam at him and Lucy '_better watch out for her_' stood roughly the same height as the dark haired guy. Even from far away he could tell she was… _well_-proportioned and just about tied with Lucy in bra size '_if she's even wearing one_' maybe a bit bigger.

Lincoln collects himself as he resumes talking, "We were really hoping for directions-" He is interrupted by the Kent patriarch.

"Say no more, we were just about to go into town ourselves but first do you think you could uhh…" he leaves it at a lull as he gestures to his prone son still on his knees.

"Oh yeah sure, he'll snap out of it in a second, right Luce?" Lincoln asks as she nods, "So uh sorry about that over there."

"Nonsense, my boy can be… a handful, I apologize for that, Kent, Jonathan Kent." He says as he holds his hand out.

Lincoln takes it and gives him a firm handshake as Jonathan introduces the rest of his family.

"There's my lovely wife Martha." She waves, "My oldest Clark," He nods, "And the girls, Kara as you already know and-" He's cut off by the older one as she makes her way towards Lincoln.

"Karen, nice to meet you" She introduces herself as she takes Lincoln's hand and gives it a firm shake.

Lincoln can tell she's using quite a bit of force as he looks her in the eyes and sees her unwilling to break 'eye' contact, he just raises a brow.

'_Oh my god_,' Karen starts talking, "Huh, so uh sorry about that bit with the light show and your jacket."

"It's fine, you go through quite a bit wear and tear when you run into mutants every now and again, water under the bridge." Lincoln told her with a smile and that reassures the Kents.

As the two were about to continue everyone heard a grunting as they all turned to Conner who was coming to and his eyes snapped open.

"You bastard, get away from them!" He roared as he begins charging at Lincoln in spite of his family shouting at him to stop.

"Conner no!" The Kent Matriarch yells.

Just a few feet away from Lincoln and his shadow grows darker and stretches forward and shooting tar-black spikes just inches away from Conner's neck and chest, just like that everyone stopped.

Whatever anger Conner had mustered up vanished with the threat of impalement now at his feet, he could hear the edges singing as the wind brushes the bladed stakes.

"Salem, come out now." Came the quiet and commanding voice of Lucy, like a witch beckoning her furry familiar.

The spikes retracted from Conner and receded into Lincoln's shadow and out popped a mass of shadow that reformed into a cat as it hisses at Conner.

"Our apologies, she's usually not this aggressive, this is Salem." Said Lucy as she brought out her arms for Salem to leap into and purring as Lucy stroked her fur.

For a moment no one said anything after just being reminded whom they were dealing with, until Jonathan spoke up, "That's quite alright, my thanks for no hurting my boy, he really needs to learn when enough is enough."

There was a pregnant pause as the Kents were expecting some sort of rude retort from Conner only to be surprised by his silence, perhaps he is in shock. Lincoln decides to break this tension.

"Y'know I knew you were all related when I first saw you," Everyone turned to Lincoln, "I noticed some familiar 'jeans' run in the family, heh get it." He flashed a toothy grin.

*****Snkt***** Everyone turned to Kara as she turned away, "Sorry, it was too quiet and that was just so dumb," and like that Kara and Lincoln shared a laugh as Lucy looks away and sighs.

-**_XxX_**-

After a bit of a tongue lashing from his parents and brother, Conner just kept silent, glared at Lincoln and on occasion snuck glances at Lucy.

Lincoln and Lucy learned it was close to noon when they arrived at the Kent home.

Both as an apology for the trouble with Conner and to show the… three into town, Jonathan offered a ride there. Lincoln looked to Lucy for a moment and after, they both agreed.

Currently the party of nine got into the pickup truck. Jonathan was driving, Martha in the passenger's seat, in the back Karen taking the left window seat, Clark in the middle separating Karen from Conner who got the other window seat.

Sitting in the bed of the truck was Lincoln, Lucy, Salem and Kara who wanted to get to know their new acquaintances. Lincoln had been surprised to hear that he and Lucy made it out of Colorado quite a while ago and was currently in Kansas, specifically the outskirts of Smallville.

The ride was peaceful, a few bumps but nothing unpleasant by the Louds' standards. In the front seat, Mr. and Mrs. Kent were having a small talk of their own.

"Man they grown 'em big out in the dead-zone don't they hun." Jonathan told his wife.

"They sure do, I thought Clark and Karen were big but this other one is something else." Martha agreed.

"What are they feeding that boy?" He wonders out loud, "You think, they're all like that girl Lucy?" He asks his wife.

"Quiet?"

"That and can turn off people's minds with a snap of the fingers." He explains.

"I hope not, you heard the rumors about some kind of uprising about a year ago and it got me thinking about the mutants locked in Curdun Cay." Martha began.

"What about it?" He asks.

"Just taking every mutant they can find and just lock them up just for something they can't control with no due process, sure a lot of them should be in there but what if _they_ come after our-" She's cutoff by her husband.

"_They_ won't." He says with absolute certainty, "They don't have a reason to come up here."

"But what if they do come here?"

Jonathan just lets out a sigh and goes quiet.

While that was going on Clark and Karen were talking with one another.

"I'm telling you he didn't flinch, I don't know if he even felt anything." Karen quietly tells her cousin.

"Are you sure, I mean I'm sure he's strong but-" He was stopped by Karen.

"You can bench loaded trucks and you know I can crush rocks with my hands without trying, yes this guy can definitely take one of us on."

"No question about the girl?" Clark asks needlessly.

"Yeah no kidding, can we talk about the cat for a second and do you think they'd let me pet her."

Clark just deadpans at her.

"What!" Karen quietly screams at him.

"Nothing."

"S'what I thought."

As those two were talking Conner was just staring out the window, ignoring everything and exploring his own thoughts. Currently he was thinking about Lucy, he couldn't really get a good look at her face, it reminded him about that well girl from that ring movie and then he thought about her when she was walking ahead of him and how great her ass looked those jeans.

'_Creepy in the front but HOT from the back_' He thought as the image of chest came into mind, '_She's as big as Karen_,' he dwelled on that as he formed another thought, '_Bet she's with that douchebag_.'

Then Conner thought more on Lincoln, '_He only caught me off guard, I bet without the chick and that cat, he's nothing_.'

Back in the bed of the truck Lincoln was asking a few questions as Kara got to play with Salem.

"So when we reach this town, what's the currency situation looking?" He asks as Kara raises a brow.

"The what?"

"What I meant was do they take; cash, credits or _god forbid_ bottle caps?" Lincoln clarifies.

"Oh yeah we take bo-… bottle caps?" Kara asks not believing what she just heard.

Lincoln looks away for a second, "New Vegas was weird." Was all he said.

"But it was fun while we were there." Lucy chimes in.

"But still weird." Lincoln adds.

Kara just stares both in awe and confusion, "So yeah we take money and credits, we have military stationed here and get outside militia from time to time. So I have a question."

"Shoot," Lincoln gives her the oaky.

"You're both mutants right?" Kara asks even though she knows the answer.

"Yeah, I'd figure you'd known that when your brother tried to fight me." Lincoln points out.

"My br-what, _nooo_, no Conner's my cousin." Kara states.

"Ah okay." _'Conner, Conner, ~Connie, Con-man, Con-artist~ ooh I better remember that one for later_' He thinks to himself.

"Yeah me and my sister, Kara and Karen Danvers, our mom Carol was sisters with Ma and sent us here sometimes while she was away and dad couldn't take care of us."

"Oh were you all separated after the attack by uh… HD?" He asks having heard stories like that before.

"No, um my mom was in the Airforce when I was little I think and she died when I was like 8."

That caught Lincoln and Lucy by surprise, it was just unusual to hear these days.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine, don't worry about it, I don't really remember her, she wasn't around much but I feel closer to her ever since I got these powers, it's weird."

"… Yeah." Lincoln somberly nods, thinking back to his own family.

Kara regains his attention, "So anyway you guys are mutants, what can you do, I mean I get Lucy is 'one with the force' but you, I kinda thought you were like Clark and Conner, y'know like super strong and durable but then you just ate Karen's attack with your hand, like literally."

Lincoln perked up and hesitated for a moment, "Well that's a bit of loaded question," he was stalling, Lincoln has encountered people who were very much interested in what he could do and it was always hard when giving a satisfying answer, eventually he just started dodging the subject entirely but now…

"What do you mean?" Asked Kara not knowing she might as well be stepping on a land mine.

Before Lincoln could give an answer Lucy came to the rescue, "What he means is that it's complicated, we don't really know too much ourselves." Not too off from the truth actually.

Kara pauses a moment, "Oookay, moving on, so you guys came deeper from the dead-zone, what's it like out there?"

Lincoln and Lucy look at one another for an instant before Lucy spoke up, "It was hell." She said bluntly.

Kara flinches as Lincoln started speaking.

"Don't get us wrong, not everywhere is a mess, some places are pretty tame really, you'll find crazies just about anywhere if you look for them but in between towns are swarms of raging dickbags doing their worst Madmax renditions and are looking to kill anything that moves."

Lincoln takes a second to look over Kara's face, she has a hard look and is a bit distant, '_maybe you oversold it a little too much Lincoln_,' he coughs to get her attention.

"But lately I've been hearing that this new president's gunning to bring the place back under control, maybe the walls will come down soon."

Kara sports the tinniest smile and says, "Yeah maybe you're right."

"Been stuck on a farm for what, 6 years?" Lincoln asks.

"Yep!" Kara exclaimed with emphasis on the 'P', "Doesn't help that we kinda supply a good chunk of the produce in town, so we have to keep ourselves busy."

Lincoln was about to ask another question we Jonathan shouts, "Hold on back there!"

The truck was going over some uneven road with continuous bumps while a metallic clanging made itself known as Lincoln looks to his shotgun that was foolishly still out, he quickly grabs it and stuffs it into his duffle bag.

Kara stares at Lucy or more specifically her chest as they bounce and her head follows up and down, she glances down at her own and compares, '_You're shitting me, how are miss Jedi mind trick over here and Karen are so stacked and I know it's not just a mutant thing, how is this fair, do I need to drink more milk_?' she asks herself.

Lucy on the other hand knew Kara was staring but didn't say anything, she could tell when people were looking at her, one of her _non_-mutant gifts but she doesn't appreciate the attention like with Conner, she could practically feel his teen hormones whenever her stared at her. Between Kara and Conner at least Lucy preferred the jealousy coming off of Kara but neither were _who_ she wanted looking at her.

The truck is back on smooth ground as it pulls onto the road leading into a nice town that was a mix of rural and suburban, houses, businesses and large buildings.

Upon entering town Lincoln and Lucy spied the local military stationed here, they notice their uniforms are pretty clean and guessed they came from outside the wall and haven't seen too much action.

Some were dressed in dark-grey jumpsuits and flak jackets, some in standard army enlistment uniforms and others walking beside them in neither.

The town may have been small and it didn't look as amazing as the sights they've seen before the walls came up but after all the shitholes camps, derelict communities and settlements 'cobbled together _and_ torn down' by passer goers, this was absolutely beautiful, a nice change of pace.

The air was so crisp, clean and fresh from the untouched foliage, no smog, no rubble and best of all no deformed semi-goopy Akira-esque monster hissing or shitting out a humanoid corpse, that is an image you don't forget.

People were going about their business without so much as a second glance towards one another.

There was a little boy playing with a ball, '_Someone should be watching him_,' were Lincoln's thoughts as he looked elsewhere, examining this nice little town.

Usually to see places this nice, the people were complete trash, the areas were controlled by an authoritarian sect of militia, everything was ruled by wanton debauchery or more commonly some combination of the three.

Things here seem pretty lax so far.

As Lincoln and Lucy unloaded from the truck, Salem jumps onto Lucy's shoulder as they stared around in awe, they were drinking it all in.

Whatever thoughts they had running through their heads were cut off by Jonathan calling out to the two.

Lincoln asked since the place takes credits that he would need to meet with whoever the C.O was and clear it with them, surprisingly enough, Conner volunteered to take them.

Kara and Karen really wanted to argue against it but desperately wanted some space from him and kept silent.

As Lucy was asking a few questions Lincoln was beginning to hear 'everything', people walking, conversations, cars going by, different smells, numerous colorful buildings and the sensations are just piling on each other.

Lincoln's a bit over-stimulated, his senses are way better than most people's but something has him on edge.

It's nothing too unusual by Lincoln standards but this sort of setting had been so alien to him, it's as if some baser instinct was telling him to be on guard when suddenly.

***CRASH***

Lincoln's head immediately turns to the source of the tremor as his eyes narrowed and locked onto a car currently embedded into a lamppost as the same boy he saw earlier, crouched and cowering at the fear of impact.

Lincoln stares on intently when something washes over him, feelings he can put into words in his head.

_CALM DOWN – RELAX – SAFE_

Lincoln's eyes grow hazy before they snap wide open and he looks over to Lucy.

"Are you better Lincoln?" She asked.

"Yeah, I am. I guess I zoned out there for a sec huh?" He asked feeling embarrassed while feeling something in his right hand.

Lincoln looked over to the Kents as they wore worried faces then Jonathan approaches and opens his mouth.

"Alright, now can you please put the gun away son, hopefully before someone sees it." He said as Lincoln looks down and sees his favorite hand-cannon (finger off the trigger).

Behind Lincoln's shades are wide eyes and shrunken pupils, he instantly checks the safety (it's on) then he takes out his duffle bag and shoves it in.

He looks away as he mutters an apology. Lucy puts a hand on his shoulder, she knows if this were a few years ago Lincoln would have shot first before looking. She can feel the 'guilt' and 'shame' rolling off of him.

The Kents look to one another, Karen and Clark don't know what to make of it, Conner's eyes narrow as Kara looks back to Lincoln in worry. On the faces of Jonathan and Martha were looks of pity and commiseration.

Jonathan has seen looks similar to the one Lincoln had on, it was the face of focused instinct brought on by years of experience, He's seen it on the faces of soldiers who've patrolled the farm, ones that have been overseas.

Martha once saw a face like that on her sister Carol (while she was visiting) when she was being mugged or someone 'attempted' to mug her, it wasn't pretty for the poor bastard.

Jonathan whispers to his family, "I'll go with them-" As he's cut off by Conner.

"No! I got this." He looks on, eyes locked on Lincoln, '_If he tries anything, he's dead_' he thinks until his head turns and his eyes land on Lucy's butt as he calms down again.

A chill goes down Lucy's back as she feels Conner's horny teenage eyes on her.

Karen quietly asks, "Do you think it was a good idea bringing them here?" Worried they may have brought an unstable lunatic into town.

Pa Kent shuts her down, "What was the alternative, point him in the wrong direction and have to do this all over again." He subtly glances at Conner, "Besides, I think I know what's wrong, we'll just take him to Wilson and if he checks out then he checks out, understood?" He asks as they nod, they know Wilson is a good judge of character.

They probably can't tell but Lincoln can hear them and Lucy can feel their 'alarm', 'sympathy' and 'anticipation for violence', she can guess who feels what without looking.

The Kents are rejoined by the three as Lincoln begins talking.

"Sorry about that, I don't know what came over me." The edge of his mouth tightens.

Martha speaks up, "Don't worry about that, young man, Conner, mind your manners and after you've taken them to the Lieutenant we'll be at the market." Conner just grumbles in response.

And so the two groups part ways.

-**_XxX_**-

The louds and Conner make their way down a district with a police station and was busy with the majority of the people dressed in camo uniforms, some in typical small town police uniforms and some in body armor.

Supply trucks filled with crates and soldiers make their way into town as an armored truck with a mounted machine gun passes by the group.

Lincoln was taking everything in as he was in front even though a certain angry boy was supposed to be leading them.

As Lucy was carrying Salem, Conner was trying to make conversation from 'behind' her, his head downward (typical).

Suddenly Lincoln speaks up, "So, Connie, where to next?"

Conner just grunts until Lucy asked him, "Where are we to traverse next, Conner?"

He quickly perked up and directed them to what was the 'county' sheriff's office, Lincoln just rolled his eyes and held a small smile.

On their way to the building Lincoln saw a great deal of the soldiers look in his direction, he paid it no mind and just kept walking.

As they made it to the building Lincoln heard one of the soldiers outside use their personal radio, inside they didn't see anyone, not even a receptionist but they did see stairs, then Lincoln asked a question.

"So, Connie, do we just go on upstairs or would that be inviting myself to a shootout with whoever's in charge?" Again no response, "Hey Luce, you think Connie can take his eyes off your butt long enough to pay attention?" He called over to her knowing what might happen.

Conner just started grinding his teeth and getting a bit red, "The Hells your problem, jackass!" He yells over in an attempt at being menacing as Lincoln just smiles coyly.

"~Me, I'm just asking a question~, maybe you should learn some manners or better yet learn some restraint, so lighten up and help us out here." He says mockingly, Lucy sighs and decides to stand by a wall hoping this would end quickly.

Conner was getting really huffy like when they were on the farm, "Shut up right now-"

"Or what you'll get angry and try to hit a guy with their back turned again and fail at that _again_, ooh maybe you'll actually get a hit in this time." Lincoln chuckles to himself, it was just too easy with this kid.

"I'm am not playing games with you, I will crush you." Conner said with his eye twitching, Lincoln and Lucy's heads perk up a bit as they felt someone coming but Lincoln continues goading Conner.

"~Oh wow so edgy~, *****sigh***** I'd love to see you try-" Lincoln is cut off as someone else speaks.

"As would I, Conner." Came a cold and unyieldingly strong voice.

The trio turned to see a light skinned man in a grey jumpsuit and dark body armor. The man had an eyepatch over his right eye and his head was adorned with short but thick light grey hair which was weird considering he seemed to be a tad young to be sporting the silver fox look.

The lone blue eye of the new individual stared down at Conner as he struggled to meet his gaze.

Neither of the two spoke as the Louds looked at each other and had a private 'conversation', something they usually do when they look to one another.

Suddenly the man speaks up, "Conner, how's the family?" He said with a small grin.

Lincoln could see how awkward Conner was being and decide to have fun with it.

"Yo, Connie what's up, he asked you a question." Lincoln saw the man's grin widen just a bit as he chuckles to himself.

Conner glowers at him but let's out a sigh, "Fine, Slade." He says quickly as the now named Slade talks again.

"Good, good, my men radioed me and said I should be expecting some interesting guests." He ended glancing at the Louds.

Lincoln just retorts, "Hmm, I wonder who that could've meant?" He asked with open sarcasm as he winks at Lucy and Salem.

Slade coughs gaining everyone's attention, "Moving on, Conner, a word please." With that the two made their way upstairs leaving the louds to their own devices.

Lincoln closes his eyes and hears their footsteps followed by a door closing, he hears murmurs but picks up a few words here and there but then it becomes clearer as he knows Conner is raising his voice, not much of it good.

Lincoln still with his eyes closed looks over to Lucy and they do their thing.

Lucy begins projecting emotions that Lincoln can match words to. _Trouble_?

He shakes his head in no, he takes a breath and responds. **Annoyance**.

_Threat_? He is unsure if she's referring to Conner or Slade but just answered honestly. **Indifferent**.

He whispers over to Lucy, "How do you want to play this with the people here?" He receives her answer though her feelings. _Honesty with Caution_. He replies. **Agreed**.

Another advantage of having the majority of your conversations 'silent', no one knows what you're talking about without context.

As they finished Lincoln hears the two returning and just relaxes.

Conner walks over to the Louds first but makes a B line to a nearby wall and leans against it, looking away from everyone.

Slade walks up to Lincoln and asks, "If it's alright with you sir, I'd like a moment to talk with you alone."

As per usual the Louds look at each other and in Lincoln's head he feels Lucy tell him she'll be safe on her own and that Slade has no ill intention.

-**Lincoln & Slade**-

As the two men make their way upstairs and through a hallway, Lincoln sees a few doors open each empty, the two make their way to the end of the hall.

Slade is a man of experience and he knows what to look out for in strangers without looking at them, by the way they walked.

He is walking side by side with Lincoln and he sees Lincoln's head held up, (supposedly) eyes forward but something inside Slade told him that Lincoln is being cautious and is watching all of his sides.

Even Lincoln's footsteps are silent, very un-military like, more akin to an assassin, from what Conner told him this Lincoln person was supposed to be a disrespectful and antagonistic ruffian who blindsided him (he cleaned up the language into something suitable) and was possibly a raider.

Conner also told him that the girl, Lucy, was one of those esper types, but very quiet and may be more secretive than the man (again the phrasing restructured by Slade).

Conner also said that Lincoln might be a psychopath who can snap at any time, Slade never really liked Conner much and that is an understatement, it would be more appropriate to say that nearly every one of his men and plenty of people in Smallville wanted to strangle him.

He's been getting very uppity lately and coupled together with him being a very strong mutant has given him quite the ego. It would be wise or you know 'believable' to get this **'**Lincoln's**'** story before making any assumptions.

Lincoln saw the way Slade carried himself, he was a warrior, a real soldier not like the pretenders that joined up after the walls came up, he reminded Lincoln of Captain Rogers a bit, a man molded by time and experience.

Was that hair natural Lincoln thought to himself, was it platinum blond like Leni's and faded with age or was it really white like Lincoln's, '_Is he a mutant_," he thought as the two walked through a door and closed it.

The first thing Lincoln noticed in this apparent office of sorts was a big desk littered with papers. Two chairs on either side of the desk and by what Lincoln would assume to be Slade's chair was a long katana in a black sheathe.

Along the walls are some papers, a chart mapping out the town and a drawing made by a child from what Lincoln could see but wasn't interested.

Slade gestured for Lincoln to take a seat as he took his own, "Now before we get to business, I was informed that you and your uh lady friend came from the barricade and had an encounter with Conner at his farm."

Of course Lincoln knew some of what Slade and Conner were talking about, I didn't take long for Conner to start shouting, one floor away from behind closed doors and Lincoln could listen in on their private conversation.

Conner mostly painted Lincoln as some raider punk who caught him off guard, demanding from his family.

Lincoln nodded to Slade as he began speaking again, "I see, well introductions are in order, I am Lieutenant Slade Wilson, special-forces and currently the Commanding Officer of the Smallvile Kansas base." He finished as he held out his hand for Lincoln to take.

"Lincoln Park," His mouth twitched into a smile for a bit, "Freelance mercenary, part time bounty hunter and moonlights as a bartender." He says shaking the lieutenant's hand.

The two relaxed back into their seats before Slade spoke up again, "But that's not all you are, is it?" That came out more like a statement than a question and Lincoln sighs, "Please, you don't need to hide that with me or even in this town… I'm not like Augustine, no one's going to lock you up or throw you out for being what you are."

Lincoln could feel that he meant it too.

"I assume that's what the glasses are for?" Slade asks as Lincoln nods.

"It's so people don't draw attention to them." He says.

"I think you lost the option of blending in with that particular hair color." Slade says with a grin.

"Believe it or not, this was natural, long before HD." Lincoln replies.

"No kidding? I hate to ask but the glasses… would you mind-" He is stopped by Lincoln removing them and placing one end behind his shirt.

Slade's eye widens a bit as he stares into the intensity and power of Lincoln's glowing golden oculus, like smoldering amber jewels.

The two begin their talk.

-**Lucy & Conner**-

Lucy and Salem had stood very patiently for Lincoln to come back, the silence was alright but the company was what bothered Lucy.

She often ignores the gazes of strangers who like to examine her body but she'd never want to be stuck in a room with any of them.

Lucy has accepted that she is both blessed and cursed with a body many crave with the most perverse intentions and for the most part it doesn't bother her, some are polite enough to take in her looks in passing and she hopefully never has to see them again, then there are others like Conner right now who can't keep their eyes off of her.

That and with her powers, Lucy 'knows' what you're thinking and that bothers her more than people looking. The feeling of people undressing you with their eyes is very unsettling when it's not the one you want.

Conner continues to sneak glances at Lucy believing he hasn't been caught (again) and is it any mystery why he is looking, there is a beautiful girl near him with a body that puts the girls in his 'still functioning high school' to shame.

Speaking of school, the people there have been getting really annoying, all this talk about wanting to explore the world outside of the walls and finally get out of this town has really been getting to him as of late.

Conner _has_ to help out at the farm, Conner _has_ to go to school with morons who won't shut up and adults who think they know better, Conner _has_ to be nice, Conner _has_ to stop getting into fights, Conner this Conner that, it's driving him insane.

He feels his temper rising again than he looks over to Lucy and is once again mesmerized by her voluptuous bust, her small waist and her round butt. He could do without the 'ring-girl' hair but he's slowly coming around to it, it has an air of mystery and he's pretty curious what she's hiding behind all that hair.

His eyes linger on a bit longer than he usually does, then Lucy calls out to him.

"I'd prefer you divert your libidinous fixations elsewhere please." Said Lucy in her typical poetic and expanded vocabulary, normally she doesn't like talking to people other than Lincoln with little more than a few words and hoped people would stop talking to her.

With that Conner looked away with a huff but opened his mouth.

"What's up with that guy anyway?" He asked under his breath but just loud enough for Lucy to hear.

"…Pardon?" She barely looks his way.

"I mean he talks like he's some big shot but I bet without you or that cat he's worthless." Conner said in a gruff.

Lucy doesn't talk back, honestly she's trying to ignore him unfortunately Conner takes this as a sign to keep going.

"I'm right aren't I? This joker's playing games when you're the real muscle huh?"

This got Lucy to speak, "As I recall, he had you on your knees earlier did he not?" She could only hope he took the hint to shut up.

"He just caught me off guard-"

"One could say YOU tried to catch him off guard and failed miserably." Lucy spat out in a dry tone.

*****Tch***** "What do you see in a guy like that anyway?" Conner mocks.

"He's a much better companion than anyone else," she looks to Salem and smiles, "Well, almost anyone."

*****Pfft***** "What's so great about him," he pauses to see if she'll respond, "He sounds like a total tool." To this Lucy frowns.

"Sigh, people like you could never understand what I see but I suppose it's my obligation to tell you where YOU stand in the food chain.

Without me, Lincoln, on his own can weather the storm of this waking nightmare, he is a being of sheer and absolute will and focus.

He is beyond strength, he is beyond your comprehension, beyond your definition of power, he is beyond even me, he stands above mutants altogether.

You are but a mere cub gazing upon a majestic lion, the threat you pose him is so hopelessly, hilariously non-existent that he can't help but find amusement in your feeble attempts at intimidation.

That would be an accurate summation of my feelings towards anyone who dares to compare themselves to Lincoln." Lucy articulates all without raising her voice or shifting her monotonous speech, she stated it all as if a fact or perhaps someone of worship.

Without looking Lucy can feel the cycle of emotions flooding from Conner, starting with 'indifference', shifting to 'interest', then bleeding into 'inadequacy', lastly landing on a kindling 'rage' bursting into a roaring flame of 'hatred' directed not at Lucy or Salem but upstairs and Lucy knows whom it is focused at.

"I don't know why you're so angry, I answered your question did I not?" The ebon haired beauty asked knowing she shouldn't expect a rational answer.

-**Back with Lincoln & Slade**-

*****Sigh***** "I do **not** envy the Kents having to deal with that boy all day." Said Slade as he massaging his temple.

The two had been discussing a chunk of what Lincoln has seen and done before he came to smallville.

While in conversation Slade had gotten passed the glowing eyes bit with Lincoln, it isn't something he hasn't seen before at least once or twice but it is a bit unsettling and not in a bad way 'per say'.

As they continue Slade learns of Lincoln's history with the militia and his take on them is not flattering to say the least. Slade and his unit were deployed to guard the border and by extension the surrounding territories within the state of Kansas, after learning what happened to the soldiers trapped inside the walls, he became unnerved with the conditions of the other states.

Civilians drafted into pseudo military factions at war with other authorities, even with the absence of long distance communication, each faction if led by real soldiers should have been working to keep order, not whatever it is their doing with each other, though he does not expressly make his opinion known, Lincoln sees Slade's inner turmoil.

"I was made aware that you and the lady were not only mutants but traveling with a class 3 B.O.W in tow." Slade states.

Lincoln is confused at the term, "B.O.W?" He asks.

"Bio Organic Weapon, it's what the politicians are calling non-human lifeforms who've been… changed."

"Huh, I've only ever the term Bio-Terrorist. Are uh, B.O.W's coined by the new president or what?" The term Bio-terrorist was created about two years after the walls came up to rally people against mutants and push 'laws' for legal means of incarcerating them.

"This new guy's alright I think, I don't really give much thought to what those idiots in congress are calling mutants, it's all crap anyway, so about that B.O-." *****"Salem"***** "… Excuse me."

"My cat, HER name is Salem." Lincoln voiced strongly.

"… Right, I noticed _she_ is rather docile compared to most B.O.W's, can you communicate with it- _her_?" He asked.

"First, the woman downstairs, Lucy, can to some extent communicate with her, Salem is just very cooperative and second, class 3?"

"Depending on the method of creation, there are different classifications of B.O.W's, class 1's are deformed wild life operating on instinct and in the worst case violent, class 2's listen to reason and are normally territorial, class 3's are intelligent, to where some show problem solving capabilities of human children and the mutations don't stop at deformities as you know, some develop powers."

"Is there a class 4 or higher?" Asked Lincoln.

"Yes, but they're labeled threats to be put down on sight. As far as I know class 4's are mentally or emotionally unstable class 3's or humanoid creatures and class 5's are massively mutated behemoths that pose a threat to humanity or that's what I've been told to say, truth is I've never seen one but a few unlucky souls have had an encounter with class 5's before.

I've read reports of large monstrosities roaming before and after the walls came up, disgusting body horrors that you'd only ever seen in a David Cronenberg flick and that's inside the wall, right before I was deployed there were rumors of a zombie virus in some no-name city that got wiped out.

A bunch of people investigated a big mansion that someone was housing his experimentations in and I heard a whole city in some state outside the walls was destroyed because of it." He finished as Lincoln stared wide eyed.

"Goddamn." Was all he could say.

"Yeah, it's not good."

There was a brief silence before Slade continued.

"Well let's move on, I just wanted to know who came into town."

"Right, to be upfront, were just looking to pass through and cross the-" He's stopped by Slade.

"Cross the border right, look I know why you came here, between here, Nebraska and Oklahoma, Kansas was your best option and I know plenty of people have gotten out but a few months ago that city destroying problem got the big wigs spooked.

No one is being let out and after Augustine got Washington secured, everyone's wondering what comes next. So I'm sorry but if you go any further than this, they'll probably 'tell' you to turn back." Slade used air quotes when he said 'tell', Lincoln knows what he means.

"I'll be real with you I kinda knew it wouldn't be that easy, but that's not gonna stop us, we got family out there and we might have an in IF we can get to someone with enough pull." This got Slade's attention.

"What do you got?"

"I'm hoping a certain scientist can pull a few strings and get me and Luce an EVAC as soon as they find out we're alive."

"You really think that'll be enough?"

"I hope so, until we can move on, me and Lucy are gonna need a place to stay-"

"We've got room, there's a motel in town, we get some drifters, they stay there sometimes."

"Awesome!" Lincoln exclaimed.

"Yeaah not so much, it's not a charity, so unless you can pay, you're camping out in the woods.

Lincoln shrugs his shoulder and goes through his big backpack, after rifling through for a good minute, Lincoln pulls out a smaller bag and puts it on the desk.

Lincoln opens the bag and presents Slade with what may be hundreds of signed slips, stamped with recognizable US military rubber stamp insignias, all of them are viable credits and from the looks of it, he's loaded.

"What and how?" Slade said with a bit of bite to his words.

"Being a mutant has its _privileges_ and when you're as good as me and Luce, you get hired for a great deal of money-err credits." Lincoln explained.

"How much… is all of this?" Slade asked.

"Last time I checked uhh… about 480,000 in total, I'm only carrying about half with _me_."

Slade's eye widen in surprise and not much these days could surprise him, but in a single afternoon two mutants and a class 3 B.O.W made their way into town (past the gate erected when multiple class 1 and 2 B.O.W's being led by a class 3 slaughtered the inhabitants of El Paso) without so much as trouble but they could actually buy out most of the supplies Slade and his men had.

Sure supplies come in from outside the wall and there used to be airdrops or so he heard and on occasion he's traded them for the approved currency crafted by the militia out in the dead-zone.

However there was no way he could let Lincoln and Lucy essentially take what they wanted with just slips of paper, the amount they possessed would put the base in an awkward position.

"I'll be straight with you, there's no way we can cover that much in 'credits', maybe 15, maybe 20,000 but not half a mil, anything more and you're paying with cash." Slade said bluntly.

"I suppose that's fair." It's not much of a problem either, Lincoln has other plans with the amount of credits he has.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln and Slade had spent a few more minutes talking about the former's living arrangements but they figured it was a good time to collect Lucy and check in their inventory.

As the two made it down the stairs they heard yelling, Conner of course.

"Why hello, ~Connie~, you waited for little old me." Lincoln says with a grin.

Lincoln and Conner had a stare-down until Slade shut it down with him volunteering to walk Conner back to his family.

"Alright then, Lincoln Park and Lucy…"

"Graves, Lucy Graves." She replies with the faintest smile as Slade nodded.

"Right, welcome to Smallville."

-**_XxX_**-

The louds had been 'forced' to check in their weapons with their quartermaster their own locker to which they got the key (By 'forced' they were asked politely to turn over their weapons and they complied). They had also been given sheets and pillows for their stay at the motel.

The walk back had been tense and meeting back with the Kents had been awkward.

A few words pass between the Lieutenant and the Kent patriarch before they parted.

Lincoln and Lucy had expressed their thanks to the Kents, though only Jonathan, Martha and Kara seemed interested in returning the sentiment.

Lincoln gives one last "Bye Connie" before they took off, which left Conner steaming and the rest of his family chuckling.

The 'Louds' had been escorted by the lieutenant to their temporary quarters. It was a two-story motel, the exterior looked dingy with chipped white paint and not a lot of people were around.

Only about two other people were staying currently but that wasn't important.

Lincoln and Lucy were on the ground floor and away from the other tenants, before they went inside Slade left them the key, told them not to lose it and took off.

Inside the room was plain, dull and lifeless. They had been informed that the power and water was on but that's about it, no fridge, no stove or oven (not a problem) and they'd have to go into town to get a heater but the two could put that of until the morning.

There were two full size beds currently bare and surprisingly clean, the walls and floor were wood lined, though a little faded. There were lights above them and along the wall was a door that led to a bathroom with working indoor plumbing.

Speaking of plumbing, there seems to be a sink with no available kitchenware and lastly, a nice table, a couple of wooden stools and a window with a beautiful view of the sun beginning to set.

Currently Lincoln was checking for bugs, they may not be camping in the woods but no one wants to wake up to pests crawling on top of them.

Lincoln declared them bug free before noting the sun was coming down, Slade had told him before that there is a curfew.

"I guess I'll get in the shower first." Says Lucy as she just stood in front of the door with a bundle of clothes in her arms while looking back at Lincoln, '_Ask him, ask him to "join you", this is what you've been waiting for_.' She thinks to herself.

Lincoln sees she hasn't moved in a bit and a thought occurs, '_Maybe she'll invite you in huh, maybe she's ready, nah don't be ridiculous, but you could ask, what's the harm_?' He begins debating with himself as he misses Lucy's hands tightening into a fist.

She really wants to tell him something that much Lincoln knows but she turns and closes the door.

Lincoln let's out a breath and thinks, '_Maybe next time_?' "Guess I'll get dinner started then."

Meanwhile with Lucy her breathing is hitched as her cheeks turn red and sweat rolls down her face, '_Coward! You know what you wanted and you know he wants it too, what's the problem_?' She screams at herself.

Lucy looks down in shame and turns on the shower.

Back with Lincoln, he didn't have much to work with. Jerky, canned fruit, can of peanuts, a small can of milk, chocolate and soft caramels from their rations and there was plenty the problem was there was no variety with the only spices being packets of salt and sugar.

Suddenly Lincoln began channeling his inner Lynn sr and an idea started to formulate.

As Salem was making herself comfortable on a bed, Lincoln was digging through his large camping backpack. He pulled out lots of folded clothes, boxes filled with miscellaneous items, crafting supplies, water bottles and finally a portable double burner electric stove-top, a skillet, a small saucepan, a couple of metal bowls and eating utensils.

From his crafting supplies he grabs some paper plates and saw candles and that got him thinking.

Lincoln got to work, he laid the 'stove-top' on the desk and turned it on but it didn't start, '_Must be out of juice_,' he thought as he shrugged and brought his hands to the sides and watched as his hands glowed a bright white then surged with a crackling blue electrical charge.

As if it was easy as breathing, Lincoln passed the charge into the stove top, power flowing from it into the appliance.

He's done this before, Lincoln and Lucy haven't needed to depend on campfires to do their cooking in years, Lincoln has had plenty of practice recharging electrical appliances, this was cake walk for him.

Now he was ready to begin.

First the jerky, the plan was to rehydrate and cook it in the skillet with some water to get rid of the salty taste on one burner.

Next he filled the saucepan with canned milk and soft caramels, he mixed them until they became a runny sauce and poured that into a bowl.

He repeated that some process with some chocolate.

Crushed some peanuts and put them on a plate.

Open the canned fruit and dump out the syrup, to dry the wet combination of sliced peaches, grapes and cherries, Lincoln took a deep breath and let out a misty cold breath into the can of fruits as little ice crystal began to form on them, that was enough, he set that aside on a plate.

He went back to the jerky and saw it was hydrated, he dumped the salty water out and began dipping the hot strips of beef jerky into the chocolate and caramels sauces and left some alone with a light coating of salt from the packets, he put the jerky on plates and moved on.

Now the fruits, for some Lincoln dipped in the caramel and rolled them in the crushed peanuts, for others he carefully drizzled chocolate over the ice-cold fruit slices.

Lincoln took a moment to eye his creation, chocolate and caramel dipped jerk- err well beef strips now and 'regular' beef strips lightly salted, and for desert as if there wasn't enough sweets candied fruits, more than enough water.

'_Not really Michelin star praise worthy but much better than basic MRE's, besides we'll get stuff tomorrow, now for tonight, every great chef knows half the meal is presentation and atmosphere_,' Lincoln ponders and looks back to the candles, sure there are lights but Lucy would appreciate the ambiance of a dark room illuminated with eerie lit wicks.

Lincoln gets to work, pulling the blinds down wasn't enough, he grabbed some cloth from his crafting supplies and hung it over the window with thumbtacks, ehh if it works.

-**_XxX_**-

Lucy emerges from the bathroom into a ghostly aura that basked in the room, an air that wasn't there before she stepped inside.

'_How long was I in there_?' She asked herself, if was easy to lose track of time when you're appreciating hot water in a real shower, '_It wasn't like this before, but I'm not complaining, perhaps this is Lincoln's doing_?' She concludes.

Lucy flips the light in the bathroom and lets the candle lit darkness take hold of her lodging.

She hears a sound and looks over to her left and jumps a little when a figure presents itself from the shadows.

Lincoln, he was in a tight black shirt that outlined his large muscular form, his hair cleanly slicked back and away from his face as the light of his eyes resonated with the light of the candles and put Lucy under a trance.

Lincoln could see Lucy changed too and into significantly less clothing than she was in.

Her hair parted revealing her right eye, '_so beautiful_,' his eyes traveled down and saw she was in an oversized white dress shirt specifically one of his but it doesn't bother him, she's been known to wear his shirts from time to time.

It was the way she was wearing it really made Lincoln's heart jump, a couple of the top buttons were undone revealing a solid black bra and with the bottoms being covered, Lincoln could only assume they matched in color.

Going a bit further down Lucy's legs were adorned with monochrome striped stockings, from her feet up to her thighs.

With the warm glow of the candle flame shining upon her ivory white skin, Lincoln couldn't help but falter under the enchanting visage of Lucy.

He hoped he wouldn't make an ass of himself as he took a deep breath and stepped forward, "Welcome, my _Mistress of the Night_, my _Lovely Black Rose_, my _~Hertis Rote~_." He whispered that last phrase into her ear as she shivered in his delivery.

Her face was getting hotter as her breathing became uneven and then it happened.

She felt warm and soft flesh meet her lips as she was pulled into a deep kiss from her love.

Unlike the one of this morning she tasted not ash but a sweet bitter aroma and the phantom fragrance of chocolate, to which she imagined dripping over her and making its way into her mouth.

Her back arched as she felt his hand gliding up her right thigh that snaked its way to her firm rear and gave it a nice squeeze but soon left it alone to join his other arm, wrapping around her waist just as Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in a deeper kiss.

A moment passed over them as they let go of one another, wanting to bask in each other's presence but the rumbling of Lincoln's gut reminded them what _hunger_ needed sating.

-**_XxX_**-

Dinner was satisfying, Salem really tore into the jerky just as Lucy couldn't get enough of the candied fruits and Lincoln got his fill of chocolate coated beef.

Talks were had and plans were being made between the two but night was coming to pass but before Lincoln could get a word in, Lucy volunteered for first watch.

Sure the two were in a 'safe' environment but that didn't mean they could take it easy.

"You haven't gotten any rest in the last three days, I'm taking first watch end of story!" She was not in the mood to argue and neither was Lincoln.

"Alright, you got it missy but-" He was cut off.

"No buts, now march." Lucy commanded with her finger pointing to bed.

With that Lincoln admitted defeat, he lost that round and chuckled to himself, his eyes glowed brighter for a quick second as the majority of the candles burned at brilliant white flame and when he closed his eyes they were snuffed out.

Lincoln walked off and climbed into bed, he really couldn't relax, but then he help Lucy aid him into his journey into the world of dreams with a gentle command – SLEEP.

It was an agreement between them for her not to use her powers on him unless needed but he was never going to sleep on his own in a convenient time.

His eyes closed and he found rest.

Lucy smiled sincerely as she saw her Lincoln finally getting some well-deserved sleep. She took a look around and saw the darkened room was barely illuminated by a few candles on each end of the room.

She went to her backpack and pulled out a book, the cover was worn out but the words read 'The Forbidden Garden: a dark romance'.

For the longest time, Lucy has been into literature with the common themes of temptation and forbidden romances, she's never let Lincoln read her more _personal_ books, not because of the taboo subjects but because she's been getting into smut for quite a while.

One sister finding out was bad enough, she doesn't need her love thinking less of her interests especially with their personal problems as of late.

Lucy pulls up a stool, sat with her legs crossed and cracks open her book to a random page with a place holder as a smile spreads across her face.

**END**

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**[Sooo, this was actually supposed to be out a little after Halloween but while typing, an unapproved update had rendered my laptop unusable for a few hours and when I got back to work I discovered my documents and saved videos and images for the last 2 months had been deleted with no clue how to get them back. I took it to a few people but everything seemed in order no viruses or major changes in performance just lost and corrupted files including some other fanfics I wanted to start in the future.**

**So after bitching over that for nearly 2 weeks and in between work and this I decided to just move on and keep going, and after missing 2 update windows I wanted to make it larger knowing it would take time and here we are.**

**In a few updates when I've gotten to a certain point I'll be going on hiatus to work on a buffer of pre-written chapters and in between post some oneshots and the beginnings to some of my other fanfics I'm currently writing.]**

**[As I've said before I prefer using characters from outside sources as opposed to OC's, most won't be integral to the overall story and mostly there for a certain period of time or maybe even for just a reference]**

**[I made Kara (supergirl) and Karen (powergirl) ms marvels kids, she won't make an appearance, just a plug in.**

**I know slade Wilson or deathstroke the terminator is traditionally the bad guy or lends his services to bad guys but he was military before he went rogue, maybe he'll be in future chapters for now just in charge of an outpost.**

**I'm not too happy with how I wrote Clark but in my opinion when rewatching Smallville, he came off as a bit of a horndog, this may be because he had a new love interest in every season at least but I wanted to take a bit of a realistic approach to a handsome, big guy who attracts attention of the female persuasion**

**So no kryptonians, aliens or supernatural beings just superpowered individuals trying to live their lives, I won't promise a superman in the future but for now it's very much unlikely]**


	7. Chapter 6

**[So I'm starting to get used to the once a month and reaching over 10k words, I guess that's one good thing as of recently.]**

**[I have some moderately important news at the end dealing with the future of this fic, it's not ending btw.]**

**[Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or anything really, if I did I'd probably quit my job]**

Posted 1/24/20

* * *

-Chapter 6-

Within the confines of a dark room lightened by a small number of candles sat Lucy with her legs crossed as her thighs shifted in place and a satisfying grin plastered on her face.

To many Lucy comes off as apathetic, detached or even unresponsive but that's just how she is, very silent and secretive.

Inside she's actually kind of a perv, her choice in literature is just one of many ways she chooses to let out her inner deviant.

Lucy gets to a good place in her book and marks it with her placeholder.

She looks of in the distant closing her eyes and 'sees' people walking about, '_Didn't Lincoln say there was a curfew?_' A good chunk of them were headed into a secluded building, they were consisting of people she doesn't know but still curious about what they are doing.

Lucy hopes it's not another sex dungeon, she's looked into the day to day lives of people before and has made the mistake of following groups of normal people via mindsight and found quite the shocker.

'_Huh, what do you know_?' She thinks to herself, Lucy didn't find another underground chamber dedicated to fulfilling the dark-pleasurable desires of man, in her words, but instead found an underground arena dedicated to fulfilling the vehement desires of man, go figure.

Lucy found a fight club, she saw regular people, some soldiers, some of Slade's men and wouldn't you believe it Conner himself.

That fact alone almost made Lucy exit out but decided to look on.

In the midst of Conner's slugfest, Lucy looked onward in displeasure, not of the boy or his opponent but in his fighting prowess.

Lucy has seen Lincoln fight in the pits, arenas and so on, but the way he fought was elegant, fluid and pure perfection through endless hours of practice and experience.

The way this boy fought was sloppy, raw, crude and unrefined. It'd be more accurate to say he was a brawler who only ever got his practice in the ring.

'_Perhaps I've been spoiled seeing Lincoln battle but he really lacks discipline_.' True enough, Lincoln has had proper training and against people he really does make it look like one of those violent animated shows Lincoln used to watch, at least to Lucy.

Watching the fight Lucy sees Conner take some hits from a heavy set man, they're both bruised to hell and the crowd is just cheering them on, if only she could hear when using this power.

Suddenly a noise draws her mind back into her room, she looks over to see Lincoln twitching and moaning as his body curls and his hands tighten into fists.

Lucy looks down feeling his stress, it was rare that Lincoln had nightmares but they did happen, why wouldn't he when you've seen what the two had.

Lucy and Lincoln have been hurt and betrayed by lots of people and Lucy recoils a bit thinking back.

The word 'betrayal' really does hit her hard. She should know more than anyone the kind of damage it does to people or more specifically to Lincoln.

"Sigh, I wonder what ails him this night?" She wonders out loud knowing that Lincoln hasn't really talked about his dreams or nightmares, from what she recalls, it's either a memory from before all of this or about when he went off the deep end, that was a scary time for her.

After trashcan's sudden demise at the hands of raiders, Lincoln changed, sure he changed after the walls came up but those were little things, the paranoia, the non-comedic pessimistic outlook and his irritable teenage phase were to be expected, especially when it came to their safety.

Lucy believes when the dog died, so did Lincoln in a sense. His entire persona changed into something monstrous and full of rage, he became so angry and violent that he drove Lucy into the arms of another man, someone not worth mentioning.

Lucy was so miserable _with_ Lincoln at the time that she sought solace and freedom in the company of a pretty boy that sweet-talked his way into Lucy's brain.

To this day she's been kicking herself pretty hard for abandoning Lincoln but in her defense, Lincoln was terrifying, he killed lots of people, almost anyone who tried to hurt them and it only drove the two of them apart.

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her. When the walls came up, Lincoln was beyond afraid and stressed 24/7.

Every day they were on their own, it was a struggle just for two kids to survive, out of their element and without the comfort of a family or friends was rough on Lincoln and with the responsibility of his younger sister on his conscience he had to make hard choices.

Lincoln was at a breaking point long before his dog died.

And to anyone who thinks him breaking was about the dog, Lucy begs to differ.

When Lincoln found out he was adopted, he was at a loss, he tried his hardest to forge an identity for himself, it invited stress into his life and he found release through creative self-expression, martial arts, being more involved in his sister's lives and vice versa made him into a more complete person.

The bond he formed with Lily was more akin to a father/daughter relationship than that of a brother/sister one.

Being ripped from his family put him on edge for over two years, then the dog came in, when trashcan died, Lincoln snapped, it wasn't about the dog, it was about what it represented, all of Lincoln's love for his sisters and his desire to protect them taken by the whiz of a bullet and worst of all it was Lucy who presented the dog to Lincoln in the first place.

In Lucy's eyes Lincoln has died twice, as Lincoln: the brother, who she loved with all her heart, died alongside his dog and as Lincoln: the monster that came after.

"Sigh, Steven Moffat how right you were, demons do indeed run when a good man goes to war." With that Lucy continues her thoughts.

The blood thirsty monster that took his place terrified her, so much so, she ran off with a boy she really didn't know, Lincoln: the monster drove her to someone who didn't care for her, Lucy wanted to believe in someone so much that she refused to use her powers on the boy instead opting to trust his actions.

Lucy looks downward in shame.

The irony is that if she had used her empathic powers on the boy she would have felt the bullshit radiating off of him since day one.

In the days that Lucy and her 'boyfriend' ran away from Lincoln, she could feel if he was near and would cloud his mind enough to throw him off their trail.

Another betrayal that she won't quite live down was turning him into the DUP, she knew they wouldn't be able to take him but at the time she didn't think she'd be sending them and local militia on a suicide mission.

Lucy's hands clench.

Lincoln has killed before and for various reasons but what he did to those men was Lucy's fault.

Using her powers on Lincoln was one thing but Lucy knows the blood he spilt that day is on her hands.

Then one day the pair ran into… let's say unsavory people.

About 4 women draped in robes and wore leather bondage getup had approached Lucy and her boyfriend as Lucy could feel a sharp pain in her head, a sensation she's felt before, they were telepaths or some of them were.

They introduced themselves as the hellfire club and they were looking for some new members when they happened across Lucy surrounded by the 'rejects who failed initiation'.

Lucy saw some kids a bit older than her who were alive but she couldn't feel any brain activity, no emotions, no thoughts.

She refused on the spot and when they threatened the two of them with the same end, the boy begged for his life and said if Lucy was all they wanted then they could have _the_ _freak_.

Another taboo word for Lucy.

At first Lucy was devastated but then she thought he was trying to distract them until they let him go and he was walking away, she begged him not to and when he turned around Lucy could see they look of contempt on his face.

She read his emotions as he spoke to her, the insults and slurs he threw at her like 'creepy goth bitch' and 'freak' were all honest, he meant every word and as he was running away Lucy could only stare at the ground and then she blacked out.

Lucy didn't want to think about her encounter with the hellfire club as it drove Lincoln and Lucy further away from each other, there were times when they refused to look at one another, that in turn made Lincoln into an even angrier and hateful person, one that 'died' protecting Lucy.

It was a long day that ended with Lincoln being torn to shreds by an old enemy and Lucy burying him.

Of all the funerals she had attended and somberly enjoyed, Lincoln's was just miserable for her, she finally knew the pain of loss that she'd often romanticized.

Even six feet under she refused to leave his side.

Then he rose from the grave in a beautiful yet terrifying experience for Lucy, upon In his second death Lincoln came back as a culmination of the brother she loved, the monster she feared and someone who hated what he was and so guilt ridden that she can feel his self-loathing on a near-constant basis.

It's taken some doing but eventually Lucy decided to start over with Lincoln in a way and fell in love with the man he is today.

She loved her brother/protector as one sister should, she feared the beast that took his place and she loves the Lincoln in front of her, the man beside her. As a woman Lucy knows in her heart Lincoln is the _only_ man she could ever love and as a young goth she was infatuated with the idea of a forbidden love and romance.

In the midst of her remembrance, Lincoln wakes up with a startling jolt.

~XxX Dream XxX~

"… and they lived Happily Ever After."

Lincoln was back home, just the way he was before he left, he finished reading Lily a bedtime story and saw she was falling asleep.

He grinned and thought to himself, '_Perfect_.'

As he got up to leave he felt a shift in the air so to speak.

Lincoln turned and saw Lily out of her bed looking at him with tears trailing down her face.

In a panic he knelt down and held her, "what's wrong Lily-bug, what happened?"

She didn't say anything and before he could repeat himself, he heard Lily speak, "Why did you leave?"

"W-what?" Lincoln stammered out.

"_Why did you leave me daddy_?" She said as her voice reverberated in a distorted echo.

_"I'll tell you why he left, it's because the twerp literally doesn't care about us!"_ Shouted a voice from behind, Lincoln turned with Lily in his arms and saw the rest of his sisters minus Lucy.

"That's not true!" He shouted back as Leni spoke up next with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"_Like it totally is, isn't it Linky?_" She asked with a pained tone to her voice.

"Of course it's not, I love you all more than anything, don't ever think I don't." He argued

Then Luna steps forward, "_Even me dude?_" She asks.

"Yes Luna that means you too." Lincoln reasoned.

"_But if you loved me why did you leave me!_" She yelled in a lyrical tone.

"Look it wasn't about yo-" He is interrupted.

"_Y'know, I've 'orphan' been told I tell bad jokes but I never had an audience run out on me like you._" Luan growled out.

That one made Lincoln take a step back, "T-that's not funny Lu-" He's stopped again.

"_Who said it was a joke._" Luan replied with a sneer, then Lincoln looked to Lynn but she looked away.

"… Lynn?" Lincoln hesitated not wanting to hear what might come next.

"_I guess you found someone else to chase after._" Lynn said in a low voice, Lynn never talks that way, she usually makes her voice known. Lincoln tried to walk to her but he heard another voice scoff.

"_Hmph, If we really mattered to you, then it's obvious who you should have picked huh LINKY!_" Lola angrily chides as Lana steps in.

"_And now we know who you'd pick bro, y'know it hurt less when we knew Lily was your favorite but who'd a thought it was Lucy all along?_" She asks but wasn't expecting an answer.

"I-I…"

"_Well-spoken eighth eldest sibling unit, but we must do well to remember that our sole male sibling is a creature of emotion, had he a moment to think, he would have seen the correct choice would have been to leave our seventh eldest sibling to her kismet_."

Lincoln narrows his eyes at Lisa, "How could you say that Lis', she's your sister!" He snaps at her.

She adjusts her glasses and continues, "_You knew that you were what kept our family intact did you not?_"

"No, I'm no-" Lincoln is stopped again.

"_Did you not think that we would need you too step-brother, an appropriate allegoric comparison to you would be the adhesive that binds our family, you played a rather hefty role in our existence and being the responsible elder sibling you are, should have put the needs of the family first_." She emotionlessly explains.

"She's our sister, how could I sit back and let any of you go." Lincoln responds.

Lisa sighs, "_Oh you poor foolish Homosapien, how naive a response._"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" He asks as a new voice speaks from behind.

"_What do you think Lame-o!_" Lincoln turns and sees his friends along with Ronnie-Anne in front and she looked pissed.

"Ronnie, what are yo-"

"_If you're still calling that freak your sister then something must be wrong with you to make you want her_."

"_You're sick!_" Called out both Clyde and Penny, another voice catches Lincoln's attention.

"_What is literally wrong with you!_" Shouted Lori but he ignores her and the glares from the rest of his sisters as he hears Lily crying.

As Lincoln let go of his sister to look at her, he saw her melt and sink into an inky black pool and soon enough the rest join her, Lincoln backs up as the pool expands.

Slowly he walks over to it and sees his reflection but then ripples form as a hand shoots out and reaches for him.

Lincoln jumped back and saw the blackened pool reform into a person, a featureless person coated in darkness, Lucy would love this thing.

Lincoln held out his hand and probably tried to blast it with something but nothing came out and as he looked back at the 'dark figure' it was in the middle of a surprise launch attack aimed at Lincoln.

The movement came faster than he could track, something that was near-impossible for Lincoln at this point.

He shut his eyes waiting for the inevitable.

~X~

"…dude"

There was a voice, it came out as a whisper.

"Dude."

There it was again but more forced and this time it was accompanied by a nudge.

Lincoln opened his eyes and saw he wasn't in his home anymore but was in some base, surrounded by forces from militia and the DUP.

'_What the fuck is happening_?' He asks himself as he looks at himself, dressed head to toe in a soldier combat uniform, a thick vest with lots of pockets, gloves, a big gun and he feels a helmet atop his head.

Before he could ask a question he feels another nudge and looks to see some guy beside him elbowing him and whisper, "You awake man."

The guy was skinny and blonde, like he was picked up off the streets, compared to the rest he really didn't look like he belonged.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"Ahh dude, you missed it when those dupes agents came in." The guy looked like a total stoner, sounded like one too.

"Mike, what's going on, why are the dupes here?" '_Why did I call him that, I don't know him, do I?_" Lincoln asks himself.

"Okay so I know you had a long night already but they're talking with the boss man about that tip yesterday."

"The what?" Lincoln asks.

"Y'know the one about the mutant." He says a matter of factly.

"You're gonna have to be a lot more specific man." Lincoln was starting to get annoyed with this guy.

"Y'know the white one that's been killing dupes left and right, the one Augustine's been looking for."

"Wait, she's here, now?" He asked having a mini-heart attack.

"Naw, she's still in DC or something, she sent her cronies, those big guys talking to the boss right now."

Most DUP soldiers have dark grey body armor with yellow accents but some have different colored accents.

The two look at the DUP soldiers and see 3 presumably 'men', one big and in bulky body armor with red highlights, one skinny with blue highlights and one normal sized with white highlights, each talking to a dark skin man in identical combat gear to Lincoln's.

Lincoln looks around to see the dupes and militia separated and talking to their own, he swivels his head and sees a map of the USA with red marker ink encircling large parts of the western side of the states.

*****Sigh***** '_Must be the wall_.' He thought.

As follows, the irregular barrier represented by the marker contains the states surrounded by the wall, starting with **Washington** and **Oregon**, a small part of **Montana** is trapped in with us.

It was always weird to Lincoln and really everyone else that it's not a straight up dome or a literal wall dividing half the US.

Next up a small chunk of **California** along with all of **Nevada** and **Idaho**. Most of **Wyoming** is behind the wall, **Utah** a piece of **New Mexico** and **Colorado**. Some of **Texas** got trapped in and a small part of **Nebraska**, **Kansas** and **Oklahoma** making up the border to the wall.

There was a thumbtack in the southern part of Nevada and Lincoln could only assume that's where they are right now.

Lincoln was going to speak to Mike when a drone bumped into him and turn toward him as a light shined on him as part of its scanning protocol and just took off, it did nothing.

"Spooked you huh?" Came the voice of mike.

"Yeah, sucks that all this tech has comes with the DUP, it'd be a lot more useful with us." Lincoln replies.

"I hear ya."

Lincoln knows the deal with the drones and advanced tech the dupes have and it's thanks in partial to his dear old sister Lisa.

He doesn't know all the details but the blast radius didn't travel very far, the radiation acted as an accelerant for the mutagens to do their work as the blast spread them.

Over the next month before the wall came up Soldiers and scientists were being escorted to ground-zero all the way back in Seattle the surrounding minerals encased so much of the radiation that they were changed, dubbed blast shards.

The chunks of metals and rocks had a weird glow to them that light up when mutants were exposed to them and guess who came up with the idea to use them in scanning machines like metal-detectors for mutants, if your guess was Lisa, you were wrong but don't worry she was the one who made them work so you'd get points for that.

That's what's in most these drones, irradiated rocks, that scan was for Lincoln. These things can detect mutants.

While in the midst of his thoughts Mike elbows Lincoln again.

"Cut it out man!" He quietly shouted to Mike.

"Sorry but you want to hear what Imelda and Rochelle told me?" Mike asks.

"What?" This got Lincoln's attention, he feels he knows who the two were just like with Mike but again has no memory of them.

"They said that those three agent guys are mutants like Augustine and all of them are involved in some heavy experimentations."

"No way, *****"Yeah way"***** what powers, what do they got?

"Dunno, but Imelda said one of them walked by her and the room got colder."

"It's bad enough they hunt mutants like animals, now they're sicin' mutants on them, I mean what's the point anymore?"

"Wow, a little over dramatic bro?" Mike jabs Lincoln one more time.

"I said knock that of-"

"Alright Listen up people!" Shouted the Dark skinned man from earlier, '_Captain Dubois, why did I know that, who is he_?' Lincoln wonders.

He along with one of the big guys in armor made their way to the front of the room as Captain Dubois stood behind a podium.

"As you know the Department of Unified Protection has been sent here to apprehend the hostile mutant that's been making his way into town.

Approximately 12 hours ago we received an anonymous tip of his location, we sent word back to HQ and it made its way to the director, Brooke Augustine. Now before we go forward, someone would like to speak on behalf of the director."

The big armored guy beside him stood where the captain stood and began.

"Thank you captain, Director Augustine has made it clear the target is to be taken alive, this is a capture and contain _Not_ a search and destroy, he is a priority target, are there any questions?" He finished in a deep and kind of muffled voice, the gas mask he was wearing added a sense of dread.

A woman spoke up, "Why isn't Augustine here, this is a priority right, shouldn't she handle this herself?"

Lincoln smirked, '_she won't leave Washington, she's under orders_.'

"She's needed in Washington currently dealing with a resistance group of mutants, she knows this is a special case and sent us in her stead."

Lincoln resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Mike raised his hand, "Why's this one a priority, I know you're supposed to take every mutant you can find but what makes this one different?" Everyone looked to him and he immediately regretted asking.

The armored guy answered, "Contrary to popular belief, when one is deemed too dangerous to capture, we are to eliminate them, the target is different and must be taken in for study."

The word _study_ made everyone shudder a bit before he went on.

"The target has displayed multiple unconnected abilities belonging to that of each class."

This got everyone's attention as murmurs made their way across the room.

According to the soldiers and scientists outside the wall there are three types of mutants.

Mutates exhibit physical changes in the body they can be as obvious and harmless as a change in pigmentation or oddities of extra appendages on the body, to a more subtle and dangerous extent like muscles becoming denser, making one stronger or more durable, increasing their strength to dozens of times that of a normal human in peak physical condition.

That is just one example for the Mutate classification.

Though Lincoln simply can't get behind the names for as lazy as may seem, they did catch on.

Conduits or containers for power are in Lincoln's opinion, the most difficult to handle. They have the power to absorb, manipulate and even take the form of any one type of energy or form of matter; fire, water, electricity etc.

To fuel their power they either recharge or drain their particular form of matter, they need a catalyst of some kind, they have many physical advantages so long as they are exposed to their individual catalyst.

Espers(Lincoln would have preferred psychics but hey he didn't come up with it), any ability that extends past conventional senses and constraints of the physical body can be attributed to the esper class, in all of the comics Lincoln has read, telekinesis or 'psychokinesis' (if Lisa's witty deconstruction of superpowers is to be favored and telepathy) are pretty common but here it's actually rare and rather limited.

Any power that isn't inherently physical in nature or belonging to Conduits are generally accepted as mental and classified as esper.

Lincoln knows with time and training any power can grow and evolve and some even develop an additional ability of the same class but never become something different, a speedster can't just levitate out of nowhere, sure with practice and some imagination, certain powers can be used in different ways but no one can have powers from two different classes, can they?

Back in the base it can be assumed other than the mini discussions everyone was having with each other, there were no further questions as Captain Dubois returned to go over formation and how to capture the target.

Before he stepped down the big armored DUP agent spoke one last time, "Remember people no lethal take downs we need him alive, critical condition is acceptable but the target must remain alive, _Understood_?" He receives nods across the room, "Good."

~X~

Lincoln could barely remember the meeting as he and Mike were slowly walking through the streets, silently making their way into an alley as he spotted some dupes on buildings.

He, mike and everyone else were packing stun-ammo and tranquilizer guns, no one was to bring live rounds.

Dusk was rolling in as the orange light started to settle in.

The two slowly crept through the ever-darkening alley to find a field, behind the buildings the soldiers were led to some greenery that led to an old church just like their tip informed them.

There was a man or a teen, pretty tall and surrounded with lit candles, he had on dark pants worn shoes and a dark hooded jacket with his back turned to Lincoln and the others.

There were dupes on the railings of the second floor and almost every step had a chance of creaking.

They knew the drill, but it didn't make it any less terrifying.

Nearly 80 armed to the teeth and Lincoln wanted to bolt but they kept getting closer, people behind the stranger, around him, on top the building and further back.

With fingers on the trigger, they saw Captain Dubois raise his hand about to signal som-

"You shouldn't have come here." The voice the guy gave was nasally and forced but still pretty youthful.

Suddenly Captain Dubois called out to him, "Alright kid, on the ground and surrender, you _will_ be taken into custody!"

The stranger stood silently then he spoke once more, "That's not going to happen."

The captain called out to him while signaling his men to approach.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way but you're not getting out of this, we have you surrounded."

There was a pause before the target made his move, "All I am surrounded by is fear and dead men." Was all he said before the candles went out, he turned and charged at blinding speeds as the soldiers open fired.

_ 'Oh No'_ Lincoln's eyes snapped over in realization.

For small instances the target disappeared and reappeared in between shots.

"Gaaah" Shouted a DUP soldier as he was lifted by the neck and silenced as a crunching sound as the target dropped the dupe down dead.

More shots rained down on him or where he was as he vanished again.

*****Squelch***** The wet ripping sound reverberated from above Lincoln, he turned and saw a figure taking out each of the dupes on the railings.

The hooded figure wasn't teleporting, whenever he reappeared it was in a stopping motion, he was just moving that fast, faster than Lincoln and his crew could keep track.

The target was using that speed to slaughter them.

Their numbers dwindled, Lincoln could see that but suddenly two silhouettes crashed through the ceiling and on to the floor.

It was the big armored agent and the skinny agent.

Two of the armored DUP soldiers took position as one rushed the target while the other hanged back.

Lincoln took cover with Mike and saw the stranger catch a punch thrown by the big guy (soldier 1), he then grabbed soldier 1's arm with both hands and threw him to the side but then the skinny one (soldier 2) shot a blast of ice and froze the target's legs in a block of ice.

"Now!" roared soldier 2 as the last armored dupe (soldier 3) broke through a wall (there was an open door but okay) and took aim with a big assault rifle and unleashed a rain of some kind of elctro-darts upon the target.

After the barrage ended the remaining soldiers looked to see their target mostly fine, the jacket he had been wearing was nearly torn to shreds, he had the front of his forearms shielding his face and torso in boxer stance but they were different.

There was a sheen to them that didn't look natural, they were jet black and looked metallic, the target unclenched his hands to reveal claws and then he broke his legs out from their imprisonment.

Gone were his shoes, his feet resembled his arms as his toes had claws.

Before he did anything dupe soldier 1 rushed him hoping to grab onto his target.

*****Crunch*****

That was the sound of the target plunging his clawed metal-like hand into soldier 1's chest and pulled it back out, letting the blood drip off his claws.

"Son of a-" Soldier 3 began shouting before his target appeared in front of him and slashed at his neck as the blood gushed, he fell to the decaying wooden floor and a pool of blood formed around him.

_'Shit'_ Thought Lincoln, _'This is not happening.'_

"You little bastard!" soldier 2 grunted before launching icicle lances at the target.

The stranger tilted his body as most of the attacks missed but caught the last one that would have gone for his head.

Lincoln peeked out and saw the icicle steam and evaporated leaving behind a few droplets of water on the floor.

The target took in a deep breath and let it go as he launched himself at soldier 2 and punched him in the face, while he was stunned the target grabbed both of his arms and they started to sizzle and steam, while he was screaming bloody murder the target tore out soldier 2's neck with his teeth like some kind of vampire and he fell to the floor.

As soldier 2's back collided with the floor it broke and sunk in, but it didn't stop there, the monster of a man kept pounding and pounding at soldier 2's skull until it caved in.

He looked on at his handy work and pulled his fist back for another punch when a _bullet_ to the head sent him to the ground.

Lincoln couldn't believe it such a monster done in by-

"Captain!" A voice called out, it was Mike leaving his cover and joining his captain near the entrance.

"You guys alright?" He asked as the last few of the militia and DUP came in.

"Shit, he was supposed to be taken alive, Augustine will not like this Captain Dubois." One of the dupes growled at the Captain.

"Well we didn't have a lot of options seeing as he took out your big guns, I say there was nothing we could do about it." Captain Dubois stood his ground against the dupe.

"… _We'll_ be luck to come out of this alive when Au-"

*****Shunk*****

The dupe is cut off by the sound of the head of another dupe's head rolling on the floor as his body fell with blood pooling.

Everyone turned to see the figure stood up and his hood down.

The fig- the man had tanned skin and long slivery- white hair that framed an effeminate face. The hair was covering one eye but the uncovered one was one Lincoln recognized, it was an intensely glowing golden eye, this was Lincoln's eye.

Lincoln was looking at a 16 year old Lincoln, the one during his 'edgier phase'. He remembers this day, this was a couple of days after Lucy run away with what's-his-face and the DUP teamed up with militia to capture him.

He left no survivors.

"That was your last mistake." 16y Lincoln eerily voiced as his metallic arms gained a red hue to them as the air became more and more distorted and the wood beneath his feet started smoking.

The precursor to the carnage ensued with 16y Lincoln looking to the armed forces who were leveling their guns at him, he cracked his neck and rushed forward.

With a swipe from his arm came a force that bisected a few people, they fell in pieces.

16y Lincoln jumped onto the ceiling, clawed and climbed across like a beast as glowing strings sprouted from his arms and reached the necks of two more people, they were yanked up and then they fell back to the ground beheaded.

The monster of a child: 16y Lincoln just kept going, he moved from person to person, swiped at one, disappeared and moved on. He reappeared in front of one person and starred at them as his victim fell to the ground unmoving before he stomped their skull in.

He pointed at another person and they were lit ablaze, the smell was just awful

Memory Lincoln (who now understood who he really was) took cover and hid as he heard the screams followed by silence, repeating over and over again until he heard one scream in particular.

M. Lincoln called out, "Mike" he could only watch as 16y Lincoln held mike off the ground by the throat and proceeded to burn and crush his windpipe with a sickening sizzling crunch and then he just let Mike fall to the floor.

M. Lincoln crawled over to Mike as he was gasping for air while 16y Lincoln had moved on to more soldiers.

M. Lincoln had caressed Mikes face and removed his helmet and looked him in the eyes.

"Mike, Mike just stay with me, please!" M. Lincoln pleaded.

Mike just choked on his own air but soon began to quiet down.

M. Lincoln grabbed his hand and squeezed as hard as he could but Mike's hand went limp.

"Please Mike, I- I can't do this without you… please." He whispered that last part while tears made their way down his chin.

As M. Lincoln sat in silence as creaking footsteps followed made their way toward him.

M. Lincoln with sheer rage in his eyes unclasped the holster to a pistol, he turned as fast as he could and pointed the barrel at an empty space.

M. Lincoln was stunned but he felt something grab onto his neck, it wasn't metallic or burning but it was a vice grip unlike any he'd known before.

'_Oh no, I remember this_.' Lincoln thought in horror, '_No, nononono NO! Don't do it_.' He begged in his mind not wanting to relive what he had done to the poor man.

M. Lincoln felt another hand grip his head and began pulling, it was the most painful feeling he could ever imagine, even more so than the vice grip he was already in at least 100x worse.

M. Lincoln had begun kicking his feet back and tried to punch or claw at 16y Lincoln but then he felt his left hand caught in something, it was like it had been ensnared by a bear trap.

He tried prying it out but then the sensation changed into something horrible, whatever had his hand started to tear into the flesh and reached bone in less than a second.

M. Lincoln screamed at the top if his lungs this was while both of 16y Lincoln's hands were pulling the head off his shoulders and then his hand came loose or rather he pulled back his arm to reveal the stump that was his hand.

He didn't have time to inspect his severed hand as there was a snapping heard and suddenly the view shifted.

M. Lincoln was staring at the bloodied face of 16y Lincoln but as 16y Lincoln brought his other arm into view M. Lincoln could see the body he had been torn from.

The body was that of a grown man and one of African descent, Lincoln never knew his name only that he was just one of many unfortunate souls Lincoln has murdered within his time in the dead-zone.

The head is tossed onto a nearby pool of blood that reflects M. Lincoln's vision and he sees just whose eyes he's been seeing from, it was indeed a black guy and just as M. Lincoln closes his eyes, he opens them again and finds himself in the body of his 16 year old 'edge lord' body.

"Fuck…" what else could he say, this was a familiar nightmare for him but this time seeing flashes of someone else's life before confronting Lincoln and well now we know what he did.

Lincoln made his way past the corpses and exited the church, he looked back one last time and knows what was to come next.

His arms regained their metal-like coating as he took a deep breath, his arms began heating up.

The heat surrounding his metallic claws had intensified and flames erupted from them. He built up a ball of fire between his hands that expanded into the size of a wrecking ball and shot it at the old building and it went down in flames, Lincoln walked away.

~X~

Lincoln had kept walking but the open field spanned for miles with no buildings in sight.

"The hells going on?" He asked no one.

He stopped walking to take a look around, there was nothing but a grassy field.

'_Yeah, I don't remember this, am I someone else again or is it something else_.' He thinks as he looks around.

Suddenly Lincoln hears growling and turns around.

A bear and not just that it's red, that's not the color of its fur, it's really just a red bear.

'_What the fuck_?'

Then Lincoln hears a screech and so he looks upward and spots a yellow bird, like the bear it's _all_ yellow.

As the dream bird glides through the air, a hissing sound makes itself known to Lincoln.

Slithering between Lincoln's legs is a big white snake and no sooner as it approaches do the other two lock onto it and rush it.

Lincoln knows to stay out of it but looks back at the serpent and feels something is weird about it.

What can be described next is a death match between three predators but a second look would show it's a two on one right now.

The snake is fast and nimble, it's agility prevents the bear from stomping at it, the bird swooped down when there was an opening but the snake snarled at it forcing it to retreat back into the sky.

This gave the bear an opportunity to scoop up the snake and slam it onto the ground as blood seeps from the snake.

The bird circles around, waiting.

As the bear reaches down to bite and kill it's opponent, the snake sprang back into action and coiled around the bear's neck.

The bear roars in fury but soon begins choking, it reaches to the serpent with one of its paws but it is bitten by the wounded ophidian.

The bear goes down and attempts to thrash about to get it's foe off but to no avail, the snake squeezes tighter and continues to bite the bear all over and with one last cry the bear gives in and slumps over.

The reptilian menace unwraps itself from its fallen adversary.

'_Damn, I though the bear had it for sure_.' Lincoln thinks to himself.

The snake slithers its way past the carcass but before it can get a moment to catch its breath, the bird swoops down and snatches the snake from the sky.

'_Ah dick move_!'

The bird begins to crush the reptile with its talons and occasionally peck at it.

Blood drips and drips from the white serpent and Lincoln starts to feel anger course through him but before he does anything the snake strikes.

As the bird reaches down to stab at it again with its beak the snake swings its head over to one of the bird's wings and bites down on it.

Without the use of both wings the bird crashes to the grassy plain and let goes of its would-be prey.

The snake acting quickly coils around the bird's body and latches onto its neck.

Unlike the bear, the bird was less physically imposing threat and went down quicker.

'_Holy shit, what a comeback_!' Lincoln excitedly gasps at the events.

The snake wounded and bloodied unhinges its mouth and devours the birds in less than a second.

'_Okay I know it's a dream but that is just unreal_.' Lincoln deadpanned in his thoughts.  
No sooner had the serpent fed on the bird did it turn its attention to the bear.

'_Alright, it doesn't take a genius to know what's gonna happen next_.'

Lincoln briefly looks away and looks back as the snake finishes eating the large bear no matter how impossible it may seem.

'_Yeah you earned that buddy but what now_?' He questions.

The snake thrashes a bit before seemingly slipping out of its skin.

'_Is this for real_?'

The snake that slipped out of the skin wasn't white like before but a bright shade of orange.

'_Now that I like for some reason_.' Lincoln joked.

The now orange serpent had effectively grown in size and was nearly 3x longer than Lincoln, it perched up its head and spotted Lincoln in the distance and speed over to him.

'_Oh crap_!'

Lincoln was ready for action but lost track of the reptile in the grass but he could hear it hissing behind him.

Lincoln turned to strike but the snake shot out like a missile but something was up with it.

It shrank and was barely the length of his arm.

The cute serpent had landed on Lincolns arm and coils around his wrist.

"No, nonono, what are you-" He's cut off by a burning sensation.

The snake had bitten down on its own tail and ignited, the fire consumed Lincoln as he spiraled into a chaotic flailing trying to put himself out.

Lincoln fell to the ground and clawed his way through the dirt, to the cooling soil and burrows down deeper.

As soon as he feels the fires die out he climbs out but something is different.

Lincoln body _feels_ heavier and can _feel_ the shape of his body change into something he can describe as more monstrous.

As Lincoln emerges from the ground the top layer erupts and he is free to spread his girth and stretch his limbs but something catches him off guard. He's in front of a lot of people, some who look terrified and others who were overjoyed seeing him.

For some reason Lincoln had incredible desire to destroy the terrified individuals and reeled his head back as he shot out a burst of shimmering white and gold energy and the last thing he sees is a white light.

~XxX End of Dream XxX~

"Ahh!" Lincoln shouts as he wakes from his slumber into the dimly lit room of his motel.

He looks down at his arms, inspecting them, looking for anything wrong.

"Lincoln, *****"Ahh!"***** are you alright?" Lucy asked as she and Salem were looming over him.

"I-I, I'm fine… just…" He pauses.

"Was it a nightmare Lincoln?" Lucy inquires.

"I said I'm fine, it was nothing." Lincoln replies with an edge but Lucy is undeterred.

"It's not Nothing Lincoln, you're out of breath and I feel your stress, the fear and confusion in your heart speaks to me."

"Just leave me alone, please." He looks away from Lucy.

Lincoln sits on the side his bed and just looks at his hands, he breathes in and out as his hands gain a dark sheen to them as his nails extend and sharpen.

He thinks back to how many people have died to those hands and sees his hands caked in blood.

Lincoln shuts his eyes until he feels something latch onto him.

Lucy is hugging him from behind as Salem sits upon his lap.

He gains a somber look as his eyes flicker a moment and the fire from the candles brighten.

"How could you ever want to be _near_ me Luce? You deserve a lot better than someone like me."

"No, I don't, at least no more than you do Lincoln."

Lincoln could feel her heart beat and it calms him.

*****Sigh***** "I'm nothing like I used to be Luce."

"Sigh, that's a good thing in my book." Lucy reasons.

"But not in mine, I was a real monster." He is hushed when Lucy grabs his hands and awkwardly interlocker her fingers with his from behind.

Lucy senses the _isolation_ and _dread_ with to no surprise _self-loathing_, she feels a direct approach would be best accompanied by words, her words.

"You know that's not how I see you, after everything you've been through, all of your suffering had led you astray but you found your way back." Lucy recounts.

"Wanting to stop doesn't wash the blood off my hands." He countered.

"And neither does mourning or hating yourself."

"…" He pauses, "I'm not a good person Luce and I don't think I can ever get back to being good."

"Perhaps but you're better now and maybe better is good enough." Lucy offers.

"Right, better… I went from being a soulless, bloodthirsty killing machine to… a killing machine… with a sense of humor, that's so much better." You can hear the sarcasm but Lucy reels back.

"…" Lucy says nothing as Lincoln's head tilts lower but then he feels Lucy lean closer and presses her face to his and whispers, "It's better for me, so much better than you think and you know my cold heart beats only for you Lincoln, do not forget that."

"…" Lincoln doesn't say anything, '_Thank you Lucy_.'

"Please, tell me about it."

-**_XxX_**-

The two lay upon the bed Lincoln was using, they spooned together with Lincoln being the big spoon and Salem curled up to Lucy.

Lincoln retold the events of his dream to Lucy as best as he could, Lucy feeling the pain in his heart as he reminded himself of such a sweet dream with his pseudo-daughter transforming into a nightmare that even has her question if he made the right choice to save her instead of staying with the family.

What hurt her was Lincoln reliving the final hours to one of the poor unfortunate souls that were taken by Lincoln, it especially hurt Lucy because she was the one that caused it to happen.

Of course after their encounter with the hellfire club she came clean to him and their bond was strained significantly for some time before his 'death'.

But the Last part of Lincoln's dream called out to her, it wasn't a memory, a nightmare or some drug induced hallucination.

"Sigh, perhaps it was a message from your spirit animal." Lucy offers as an explanation.

"What you mean, are you gonna interpret my dreams and ask the spirits for guidance and whatever."

Lucy turns her head and gives Lincoln an expressionless glare.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Lucy turns her whole body and speaks to him.

"I apologize, I don't have my crystal ball or tarot cards, an interpretation is all I can give you, if you'd prefer me not to say any-"

"No, no, go on ahead, I'll keep quiet." Lincoln quickly told her.

Lucy gives a brief smile, "You told me the snake had won and bound itself to you, correct?" She asked as Lincoln nodded, "Serpents are seen as symbols of fertility, healing, rebirth, transformation and immortality, in fact the Ouroboros, that's the snake biting its own tail, is a symbol of eternity and continuous renewal of life.

As for the color it started out white, blank and pure much like you once were. You said it had gone up against a red bear and a yellow bird right." Once again, she asked and he nodded, "The serpent had defeated a physically superior opponent and a more intelligent foe with plenty of advantages.

The birds that come to mind when preying on snakes are owls, hawks and falcons, each share the trait of wisdom and victory in accordance with the color yellow as the color red equates to strength.

Your snake ate both gaining each and once it shed it skin, it revealed itself to be orange, the color of power, or strength tempered by wisdom. Orange much like the rising and setting sun, an endless cycle of beginnings and ends, you were rebirthed in fire and emerged a much grander and stronger entity." Lucy concluded.

"So what does it all mean Luce?" Lincoln asked thoroughly invested in her interpretation.

"I believe your journey is much like the snakes, you have already and shall again come across adversaries who are superior to you both physically and mentally, you can prevail but you will not come out unscathed. Should you survive your ordeal, you will awaken new power, greater than that of your fallen enemies."

"… Sure, I'll take it." Lincoln accepted.

-**_XxX_**-

Lucy had fallen asleep, Lincoln wouldn't go back, not now.

Lincoln could feel Lucy embrace him tighter, they rarely share the same bed, Lincoln rarely slept, with our without Lucy nearby.

He had dismissed the candle lights some time ago, it was no problem with his night-vision. Lincoln was a bit weirded out when he first knew he had it, in the games or on tv night-vision through goggles were different than with his own eyes, everything comes out clear and with only a few shade differences.

Another thing that kept him up was thinking about his powers.

They have always confused the hell out of Lincoln, it was one thing when he thought he could heal and see in the dark but to this day his abilities are improving and not only that occasionally something new comes around.

He knows he has nearly every physical enhancement he can imagine, he's strong enough to tear down buildings with his bare hands and casually push and pull trains (don't ask why or when he found the time).

He can be faster than the human eye can track at least with a good kick start and in small bursts, after that he's no faster than say his motorcycle; the Loudhog #7 (about 150mph last he checked, not even Mach 1), don't even get him started.

Lincoln is durable, especially when his muscles are tensed, normal bullets can just barely break the skin but stop right after that.

His agility is very impressive enough so that he wishes he could show off to Lynn, free running turns into a circus act with him now.

His senses are way better, including his hearing and sight, speaking of, it's taken a while to understand but when he concentrates he can 'see faster' which is the lazy way of saying he process images many times faster than people can, he has enhanced perception so precise he can predict movement and respond accordingly thanks to his inhuman reflexes.

He can 'feel' around him at all times, he effectively has no blind spot (although Lucy seems to slip by sometimes), it's only a matter of him reacting fast enough.

Most of the his physical enhancements have something in common, they came only after Lincoln has suffered some form of trauma relating to it, for a long time Lincoln had no idea how this works but recently he has developed a theory that would explain how all of his powers are connected. In the meantime he practices what he has and improves on them.

With a power he dubs analytical clairvoyance, he can tell the position of items and people at a certain range, it's not very useful unless you're actively looking for something nearby, but with this power he can map out the rooms of a building in his head and tell where is what, it's sensitive enough to reveal the contents of one's pocket and identify every pebble surrounding him.

And that is just about the extent of his mental powers or of what he can tell.

As for his conduit powers, for a long time he didn't have any but one day after stabbing a fire manipulating conduit and his blood washed over Lincoln's open wounds, he woke up a few days later with fire powers, albeit on a smaller scale at first, with practice it grew to great heights.

When Lincoln learned how it happened in his 'edge lord' phase he went pretty crazy with it, either with blades or his bare teeth, Lincoln saw fit to drink the blood of his victims and gained new powers.

He gained numerous mutate and conduit based abilities.

He can change his skin to an organic metallic-like substance and grow claws, it's NOT metal and it's harder than steel (if you can figure it out you can tell Lincoln, for now it's a mystery even to him).

He can absorb, metabolize and assimilate many forms of energy and radiation (He's been exposed to a lot) and absorbing them can boost his pre-existing powers and he can blast a condensed form of pure energy from his body. Though he can absorb it, that doesn't mean he is immune to attacks from powers he's gained, he just becomes more resilient.

Like with Karen's attack, she could shoot beams of condense solar radiation, something Lincoln already has but still has to absorb it or dodge it, he wasn't impervious to the attack.

Lincoln has multiple forms of matter manipulation like previously mentioned, pyro-kinesis, cryo-kinesis, electro-kinesis and many more Lincoln has 'collected' over the years.

Lastly and most importantly, Lincoln's ability to heal, it's out of control how great it is. At this point it's more or less regeneration.

Lincoln has other powers he can't control very well yet but only time will tell how powerful they'll become.

Now for Lincoln's theory, he's thought long and hard about his powers and the only thing he can come up with is 'Learn, Adapt and Evolve'. Anytime Lincoln's come to harm he's recovered and his body's grown more resistant to whatever harmed him. When exposed to another mutant's blood, Lincoln gains new powers although now Lincoln is beginning to question if it's just mutants given his recent dream. Finally his powers seem to be growing and with Lucy's prophetic predictions looming over his head, he wonders if he'll still be human-ish by the time they leave the dead-zone.

These are thing things that make him wonder if there even is a point to going back ho-

"Lincoln." Lucy's voice brings him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, what's wrong Luce?"

"I don't mind you grabbing my butt when I'm asleep but could you please loosen your grip, it's starting to hurt." She delivers with her usual monotonous voice.

Lincoln's face reddens as he looks down and sees his right hand caressing Lucy's bottom, he let's go right away but then she grabs his hand and looks at him.

"I said to loosen your grip not let go, it's alright." She says as he looks to her in shock, "What?"

"Nothing." He says with a smile as he lets his hand resume nestling her butt. Lincoln looks at Lucy to see a light shade of pink on her illuminant skin, he leans over to her and gives her a tender kiss as she rests her head on his chest and goes back to sleep.

Lincoln could catch the scent from her hair, '_She smells really good_."

-**_XxX_**-

"Hmph, hmph, hmph" Lucy wakes to a grunting noise, she sees Lincoln is out of bed and on the floor doing his routine, currently sit-ups without a shirt.

It's a luxury Lucy enjoys very much, watching his large, tight muscles contract and bulge as he shows off for her and his grunts do take her mind to some rather naughty places.

Her mind wanders as she continues to witness Lincoln's large form, a light layer of sweat drip down his abs, oh she could watch him all day as a matter of fact she has before.

It's nothing she hasn't seen before but that doesn't keep her face from turning red or stop her from muttering under her breath.

Lincoln's voice breaks her out of her trance as she asks him to repeat himself.

In the middle of his sit ups Lincoln asks her, "What do you want to do today, I know we didn't see a lot when we got here and after getting what we need to tide us over, we'll still have a lot of time left."

Lucy ponders for a moment, just long enough for Lincoln to switch to one-armed pushups or with one-thumb, now he's just teeing it up and she loves it.

Lucy's head tilts as she watches and Lincoln smirks, "Well Luce, I'm waiting."

"Wha…oh yes, I would like to explore and maybe see if we can find a boutique, *****"A what?"***** a clothing store, *****"Oh right"***** I'd still like to fix my dress."

"That reminds me, we're covered for about 15K in credits for most of town but I guess that works in our favor."

Lucy nodded as she pulls their bags and fetches out a few boxes and pulls out cold hard cash some bills ranging from singles to hundreds, some crumpled and some faded in total about 200K. In a couple of other boxes there are jewels and cut gems.

Where did they get all this, early on before credits the duo learned while scavenging stores and abandoned homes to save the money and jewelry, they do come in handy when some places don't take credits and when not working for _credits_ they do jobs for real money.

"So what was your plan again?" Lucy asks knowing it had something to do with the money they had.

"What we talked about, get as close to the border as we can, we know they won't let any muties out but if we can find a way to send a message to Lisa I know she can help."

"Sigh, how do you know she will?" An honest question.

Lincoln switches thumbs in his pushups.

"Well she didn't lock us in here, *****"She kind of did"***** you know what I mean, if she knew we were here, she would've gotten us out a long time ago, they probably think we're dead if anything." He said that so casually.

"How can we get a message to her?"

"Hopefully we'll be close enough to the walls that whatever's jamming communications here won't be too much of an issue, if that's a problem, I'm sure one or two people are willing to accept a bribe." Lincoln concludes with a smirk.

"So we'll be here doing what exactly, you told me we might be here a while."

"I was told there was a situation out _there_ and they beefed up security at the borders, *****"Great"***** so I'm thinking maybe a month or two to recharge our batteries and stock up, maybe see what's here and after, we initiate plan _Let's get the hell out of here_!"

"Sigh, I guess it could be worse." Lucy accepts this course of action or inaction for now.

Lincoln gets up, "Now that that's decided, let's get ready for the day, we've got a lot to do."

Lincoln takes his bag into the bathroom and Lucy hears the shower switch on as she has serious debate with herself.

"C'mon, you're stronger than that, don't." She whispers to herself before she closes her eyes and sees past the door and watch Lincoln undress, "No, no I'm not." It's not the first time she's spied on him or anybody for that manner.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln and Lucy are walking down a street and have met a few people along the way, most waved, some stared on, specifically at Lucy.

Lincoln is in an all-black attire consisting of a dark dress shirt, pants and shoes, his white hair looks cleaner and slicked back into a more classy gentlemanly style, he has on his shades (gotta have those) and he's carrying her backpack.

Lucy is in her (Lincoln's) white shirt, jeans, shoes and her hair is still very long and hanging over her eyes. What might be gaining attention would be the two of them doing that couple walk, Lucy is holding onto Lincoln's right arm in a tight hug, Lincoln can feel her soft twin orbs and can't help but smile.

Lincoln sees a shadow zoom past them, it was too big to be a bird and too small to be some kind of aircraft, besides it wouldn't be an aircraft they can't remain airborne not with the clou-

"Lincoln." Lucy calls out to him.

He's taken out of his thoughts as they both come to a stop, "What happened?"

"I think this is the place." Lucy says with an iota of cheerfulness.

-**_XxX_**-

'Bored,' were Lincoln's thought as he sat on a bench waiting on Lucy.

It was maybe 10 when they entered and now it's past 12, almost 1pm, over two hours and Lucy comes back out only to showoff, that part Lincoln really couldn't complain about but it's been like this for too long.

When they first came in, they met a lovely couple who ran the place, Lincoln learned it was Sunday on a mid-October and that business had been slow, their eyes lit up as he told them Lucy was looking to expand her wardrobe.

-**Lucy**-

At first Lucy was disappointed to Learn neither the seamstress nor her husband the tailor could do anything for her ruined dress but actually wore a smile when she learned they did custom jobs, it actually put a smile on her face.

Lucy had her measurements taken and was fitted into a proper F cup, she had gotten quite a few bras and felt more comfortable than she ever had in her undergarments.

"So are you new in town dear?" The voice of the seamstress caught Lucy's attention.

"Yes, we came here yesterday."

"I figured, it's a bit of a small town, I take it that's your boyfriend you came in with?" Lucy couldn't see the woman but from her tone she could picture the teasing smile on her face and feel the curiosity emanating from her.

Lucy paused for a second as her smile brightened, "Yes, yes he is."

"Ooh then I have the perfect little number for when you're both alone, hehe." Now she just wasn't hiding her joy and if it meant getting a sale then why not push.

-**Lincoln**-

He was just sitting alone, his eyes wandering just looking for something to pass the time when a voice called out to him.

"Excuse me." Lincoln looked to see a man possibly in his mid-fifties in a classic white shirt and brown trousers, fading dark hair and fair skin with wrinkles, he approached and offered a glass of water.

Lincoln took it, he wasn't afraid if there was anything in it (wouldn't work anyway) but he notices bruises on the man's knuckles and that he may be wearing makeup.

"The struggles of being a good man, the things we put up with huh." The man said with a bit of a grin as he nudges Lincoln with his elbow.

Lincoln thinks for a second, "I mean I don't mind it, she seems to be happy."

"And a happy woman makes a happy home, that's what matters at the end of the day, am I right?" The gives a toothy grin.

Lincoln smiles, "You couldn't be more right, but had I known it would be this long, we would've come after getting setting up our place."

"How long you two in town for?"

"A few weeks at least, a couple of months at most before we move on."

"Must be nice to be able to go where you want." The man says with a tone that yeans for something.

"Trust me it isn't like that for everybody, and while on the topic, with everyone here close enough to the border why haven't you all just packed up and left?"

"Oh that's not hard to see why, Smallvile's our home, most of us have been here since we were born and others just like how quiet it is, some are too stubborn to leave but me, my life's here, my wife and I do pretty good on our own, sure we could take our chances back in the states but sometimes it's better with the devil you know than the unknown."

Lincoln raises an eyebrow, "Is there something going on here?" He asks with a bit of worry for the man.

"Nothing really, the occasional stray ~B.O.W~ and sometimes these army boys put people on edge but I'd rather this much effort defending my home than starting over somewhere else."

"It might be better outside the wall than in it." Lincoln says in more of a statement.

"Could be, but then again everyone I know is here, gotta appreciate the life you have cause it can get so much worse, Like in Washington."

'_Ain't that the truth_,' Lincoln thought until '_Wait_.'

"What's going on in Washington and how would you know that?" Lincoln raises a brow.

"Easy, communications may still be down but larger bases have ways of getting the word out and when new orders from the outside come, it usually makes way here and… well word gets around, we are a small town. To answer your first question, other than rounding up every mutant they can find, the DUP has been coming down pretty hard on civilians with their liberal use of martial law and using fear to keep 'em in line."

Lincoln thinks to himself, '_Maybe we can just do this here_,' "Do you think we could send a message from here to someone on the outside?" He asks with hope in his eyes.

"I'm sorry sir, but something got the boys from the border spooked, they got strict orders against such things, if you came a few months back, then you wouldn't have had a problem." He says downtrodden as he saw Lincoln's face sink.

"Dang it, welp guess we might be here for a while." Lincoln's face goes back to being neutral.

The man coughs and gets Lincoln's attention, "While I'm here, is there anything else I can get you?"

"Well since you're asking I'd like to know where we can find some things."

-**Lucy**-

"Sigh, what a wondrous relief from the thrill of what Leni would call 'Retail Therapy'." Lucy happily sighs in content.

She walks back to the front desk in her shirt and jeans, when she sees Lincoln trying on a charcoal grey trench coat and black leather gloves and gives a small smile.

"I see you found something you like." She eagerly awaits his response.

"Yeah, I figured since we're here… y'know." Lucy nods, "You all set?" She nods again.

Lincoln removes the coat and gloves, the coat is a deep grey with orange lining on the inside, typical Lincoln.

The two purchased their things, Lucy has a few dresses on order that if Lincoln were a betting man and he kind of is, they'll look a mix of formal and funeral gown, typical Lucy style and he's actually looking forward to it.

The two head out and not too much was spent, with Lucy's orders coming down to a little over 1000, she did place an order for more than a few, '_They better be worth it_,' Lincoln has dealt with custom prices, at least it's not outrageous but still… money's money.

Other than custom ordering, Lucy had gotten a few things, pants are still uncomfortable to her so Lincoln can only imagine what she picked out.

As expected of bringing a man shopping with you be it your brother, boyfriend, husband or father, Lincoln is to carry everything without complaint.

-**In the Boutique**-

Back in the store the tailor husband and his wife the seamstress are working on dark fabrics, (wonder who that's for) when he turns and talks to her.

"So what do you think about them?" He turns to his lady, a dark skinned, short brunette with some greying streaks in a pink blouse and long skirt.

"Well the girl's quiet, she didn't really start talking until I asked about her man, she was a bit off putting, the stoic and silent type aren't made for a small town where everybody's in your business."

"I think that's fine, That young man told me they'd only be in town a few months at most, I thought they were just drifters passing through but he seemed interested in talking to someone on the outside."

His wife picks up the conversation, "Think he has family on the outside?"

"Maybe, would explain why a couple of mutants want to travel so close to the border, with how they upped security, no one's getting out not that they would let the two out."

"You think we should tell them that pretty much everyone knows already?" She asks.

"I think that might've been fair but no sense going after them now, they'll find out about this place soon enough." He says with a warm smile.

"I guess, anyway back to the boy." She got them back on target.

"Right, well he seemed pretty down about the border but he asked for a few other things."

"Like what?"

"Oh nothing too out of the way, where to get supplies, local market, he looked surprised to know we still have a hardware store and I told him where everything was, it was his last question that spooked me a bit."

The wife perks up, "What did he ask?"

"Where our cemetery was." He ended as his wife turns to him with a fixed stare just letting that sit there and just went back to work.

-**Lincoln & Lucy**-

Lucy had turned to Lincoln, "Was that your way of wanting to impress me by inviting me to a romantic setting." She asked him with her impassive tone as Lincoln's eyes widen in alarm, "If so it's working." She said with her lips curved into a grin as Lincoln's eyes roll for the fake out drama.

"So now that I know where everything important is, do you want to do something else or should we look into getting one of those mini-fridges before we head to the market?"

Lucy was about to answer when her shadow had darkened and went back to normal.

"I believe we _all_ need to get something to eat."

Lincoln looks down to Lucy's shadow and back to her, "Agreed."

As they turned a corner, Lincoln looked back down and saw the same shadow from earlier pass by again.

-**_XxX_**-

Back in the motel room we see the Louds lounging on a bed after having a meal together.

Lincoln and Lucy picked up lunch from a diner, a few burgers and a grilled chicken for Salem (diced by Lincoln).

Currently Lincoln was pointing to a wall with his finger as the cat followed the light at the end like a laser pointer, never let it be said that Lincoln does not play with Salem.

It was fun seeing Salem drop into her shadow and climb up walls, Lincoln would trail the light to the other end of the room just for Salem's shadow to lift and stretch to it, Lincoln liked the challenge and began circling the dark feline only for her to get bored and hop from her spot on the wall onto the bed beside Lincoln and rub against him.

He took that as a sigh that she needed attention and he was happy to oblige, every time he ran his hand over Salem's fur, she purred just a bit louder.

The three were content, maybe they could get used to this place.

Lincoln's head perks up and gets out from the bed ruining Salem's comfort time, Lucy looked over to see what got Lincoln's attention.

He silently opens the door to receive a knock to his skull.

"Ow." Don't know what he's whining about but there was a feminine gasp on the other side of the door as Lucy looks over to see one of the women from yesterday.

Lincoln speaks up, "Kara, good to see you."

"Uh hey." There was a bit of an awkward pause before Lincoln lets out a laugh.

**END**

* * *

**AN: [So I've been talking to a friend after most of my work was erased a while back, to which I've been rewriting with motivation and a new direction. A while back I wrote that this would be referencing a lot of non-loud house related sources like marvel, DC etc. Now I'm going to make it into a full on crossover within the world of Resident Evil, Infamous with a few shows from marvel (**will be revealed when we get to it**), and lots of references to DC (**most DC shows included the justice league and a world with numerous alien superheroes that won't fit into the world I'm building**) as well as multiple characters from other sources.]**

**[Soon I'll be switching this to the crossover section.]**

**[In the near future I'll rewrite some parts of previous chapters, update the disclaimer and change up a few things.]**

**[As a heads up the entire story won't revolve around Lincoln and Lucy the entire time, we will go to the other Louds in the future, this part is just taking longer than I thought. Also in a few chapters we'll get to a lore dump where I'll explain how thing went on the outside and what everyone else has been doing.]**

**[Further down with more action and more enemies Lincoln will seem overpowered in comparison to most mutants but many will catch up some will be made to outclass him while he grows, the end goal for Lincoln power-wise will make into the unholy three-way love-child between Ms. Marvel from marvel, Doomsday from DC and Dante from Devil May Cry.]**

**[Also quick spoiler, next chapter's mostly a LincolnxLucy fluff.]**


	8. Chapter 7

**[What's this a new update! Yes I live and things have been crazy with the coronavirus here on my end let me tell you, almost everything has been shut down but on the plus side, now I've got more time to write, on a serious note, to everyone who has enjoyed this, thank you for your patients, this may not have been my year to start posting on FF]**

**[Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or anything really if I did I'd tell you, probably]**

Posted 4/1/20

* * *

-Chapter 7-

"So Kara what brings you by, how's the fam, how's Connie?" Lincoln asks in rapid fire.

Taking a minute to compose herself and after registering what the achromatic haired man had just said, she chuckled, "First, I wanted to see how you guys were settling in, second, fine thanks and last, thank you for that, everybody's been talking about that." She ends with a smile.

Lincoln returns the smile with his own, "Well always a pleasure to satisfy a happy customer by embarrassing little brats."

"Seriously, thank you, you have no idea. Word spreads like wild fire in this town and I heard that you two were gonna be around a few months."

Lincoln and Lucy looked to each other, '_I only told him like an hour ago'_. Lincoln thought to himself.

"And how is it that you came across this nugget of information, my inquisitive blonde friend."

"Okay who says 'inquisitive' and I was reverse-stalking you, *****"That's not a thing"***** oh yes it is, *****"and how's that"***** I was trying to go to places you might be before you showed up but then it turned into regular stalking so I thought to myself, why not just invite them to hang out, maybe bring 'em over for dinner and talk about what else you saw in the dead-zone."

Lincoln stopped her and spoke, "Wait what was that you said?" He asked.

"Talking about the dead-zone?"

"No before that."

"Hanging out?"

"No. In. The. Middle." He said with a bit of frustration.

"Oh you meant 'bringing you over for dinner', *****"Uh yeah that"***** oh you know, the folks knew you're here to stay and wanted to know if you wanted to come by tomorrow and 'break bread' and 'bury the hatchet' about Conner."

"Oh well…" He looks to Lucy who shrugs before Kara spoke again.

"It's totally cool, you don't have to come over right now, just think it over, we'll have awesome food, VCR, DVD and tons of juicy gossip."

She's stopped when Lincoln holds up a hand, "Shut your mouth, you had me at food." Lincoln ends with a grin.

"Sweet but heads up Karen wants to know if you can beat her and Clark in arm-wrestling."

"Kara, Kara, when you made the sale, stop selling, we're in."

Kara takes a moment to look at Lucy, "Wow you don't even need to talk about it do you?" She asks as Lucy speaks up.

"Not with us no." Then Lincoln picks up the conversation.

"If you want to come with, me and Luce still need to pick up a few things around town while there's still daylight."

"Sure and Lucy, there's this cute little salon, maybe we can get a touch up together, listen to stylists complain about their marital life and feel super awkward in a sort of girl bonding experience."

Before Lucy could comment Lincoln spoke for her.

"Yeah I don't think that's Lucy's scene." It was there that Lucy frowned slightly.

"Actually, I'd like to go."

"Yeah so she– Wait What?" He does a double take and just stares at Lucy, "For real?"

Lucy looks at him with a stone-faced glare, "I would like to hear what Kara and this town has to offer, is that so wrong?"

He deadpans, "I don't even know you anymore, where's MY Lucy?" He asks in mock surprise as Lucy just huffs.

"SHE'S going to the salon with her new friend." She walks out with her chest puffed out.

"Oh I see how it is, if I so much as mention a haircut, I get the _cold shoulder_ but when she does it, you're all buddy-buddy, I guess it'll just be me and Salem." He says that as Lucy gestures for the cat to come to her and so the black cat hops into Lucy's shadow, "Traitor! I fed _and_ played with you, so what you're just gonna leave me to get everything myself?" He asks.

"Sigh, perhaps you could use the time to yourself."

"And why may I ask, can't **I** go with you lot?"

"Because you have things to get, remember and you wouldn't really belong there anyway."

"Why, because I have a penis?" He jokes as he hears snickering coming from Kara.

This was way better than re-watching the dozens of soap operas on tape for the 100th time, Kara was enjoying their back and forth very much, then Lucy began dragging her away."

"Farewell Lincoln I shall return before dark." She says as Kara interjects.

"Yeah, probably for the best."

-**Lincoln**-

In less than an hour Lincoln had already done everything he was supposed to do.

Went to the hardware store and got a heater and a mini-fridge, went to the market and other than looking over his shoulder as he often did, he found the experience a bit boring. He heard a lot of talk and from it all he could break down some of what went into the town.

The Kents along with a few other families manage farms. Two handle produce but never grow the same thing as each other, the other two handle livestock, milk and dairy. It was a delicate balance but the town had everything they needed without needing outside help and until a few months ago they did on occasion have a few things brought in, one of the benefits of being so close to the border.

Lincoln carried the groceries, the heater and fridge, some additional cooking-ware all by himself no problem, nobody seemed to stare or point it out and he made his trip back in peace and set up the room.

Lincoln thought back to after his meeting with the butcher.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

Lincoln was in front of the counter to the butcher's shop or meat market, he had been annoyed by the heavy set man, Lincoln had caught the man trying to skimp out on him and had the nerve to charge full price. The tailor did warn him that the butcher tries that on most drifters that come around.

Lincoln also noticed the man had bruises on his knuckles and cheeks, '_Alright is there something going on in this town or what_?' He asks himself remembering a good chunk of guys had similar bruises on their hands and face.

His thoughts were quickly dashed as the man sent him on his way with a slight glare and wishing him a good day.

The white haired mutant walked out of the meat market with bags, grumbling to himself, '_That penny pinching fat tub of lar_-' Lincoln fails to complete that thought when he raised an arm and deflects a big red ball heading for his face, popping his elbow upwards to ricochet the ball into the air and carefully caught it with his foot.

Curious, Lincoln thought this thing looked familiar when a voice grabbed his attention.

"Sorry mister!" Lincoln turned and narrowed his eyes in an effort to remember, it was the boy from the other day, the one playing in the street that caused a car to crash. "Can I have my ball back?"

"Uh, sure kid." Lincoln looks around and sees not many people are around, "Tell me, how old are you and who's watching you, kid?"

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." He said worried and eyeing his ball still on Lincoln's foot.

"Yeah and I bet you're not supposed to play in the street but hey I'm just a stranger, what do I know." The kid blushed at that, taking a closer look the boy had short dark hair, fair skin, red shirt, brown shorts and couldn't look much older than 8, '_He really shouldn't be alone_.' Lincoln thinks it over for a second and shrugs his shoulders, '_Eh, not my kid_.'

Lincoln was about to walk away when he remembered he had the boy's ball, he quickly kicks it up with his foot and calls out to the boy, "Catch!"

The boy indeed catches his ball, "Thanks mister!"

"It's Lincoln by the way." He calls out to the boy.

"Thank you Lincoln." Hearing this, he smiles and turns to leave but looks back to see that the kid was gone.

'_Huh_.' Lincoln shrugs and goes on his way, '_Wish I caught his name but I guess it's not important now_.'

~XxX End Flashback XxX~

Back in the motel, Lincoln was thinking if he got everything the three of them would need for the week.

Lincoln knows how to keep his fridge stocked, everything was at a surprisingly good price for what he wanted to make for dinner.

Time for a Lynn Loud sr inspired dinner; Date night special: Lincoln Loud Park edition.

For Salem: A lightly salted, pan seared steak.

For Lincoln and Lucy: Theirs were smothered with garlic and onions, topped with parmesan and fresh herbs because they're not animals (no offense Salem).

(Lucy's was charred slightly for obvious reasons and Lincoln's was medium well.)

Steamed carrots and broccoli, a nice loaf of bread that Lincoln intends to slice and grill then top with garlic and cheese, this was going to be an excellent dinner for the three.

For dessert: Fresh fruit (diced apple and pears coted in lemon juice to prevent browning and drying out all mixed with cranberries) topped with whipped cream, made from heavy cream.

Lincoln could picture it now and got right to work.

-**Lucy**-

The trip to the salon wasn't as awkward as Kara promised not that it bugged Lucy, she was just happy to spend time with someone and have some space from Lincoln.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

In the salon, Lucy was getting her hair trimmed; Her bangs finally given a straight cut but still covered her eyes, the ends of her long locks slightly shortened and neatly clipped.

She watched Kara's hair being washed as the stylists attending to them were in the midst of conversation.

One was older, blonde and working on Kara, Diane, the younger, brunette one with Lucy was named Mary.

"I'm telling you Mary, Kevin's into you." Diane was telling her co-worker.

"That's what you said about Lance, Marcus and Eric but ~surprise~ they were all into Amy, just like I said."

"Okay so those idiots don't know what they're missing, you're smart, cute, stylish and-"

"Flat as a board." Mary finishes, "They're not missing much when Amy looks like a cross between Scarlett Johansson and Christina Hendricks, I mean have you seen her chest." Mary complains.

"I try not to, what with you both young enough to be my kids, but I see your point." Diane concedes.

"Ugh, I'm gonna die alone."

"Oh don't say that, sweetie." Diane tries to make her case just as Lucy speaks up.

"Well, it's likely to happen." Lucy says softly as both women jump slightly at the sound of her voice.

Diane tries to defend her friend when Lucy continues.

"Statistically speaking, everyone WILL die alone, the odds of your life ending with a loved one beside you are astronomically out of your favor."

Mary stares on at Lucy while Diane sputters, "Well, I mean, but, uhh…"

Lucy goes on, "And it doesn't matter how big your chest is or if you have movie star looks, time will take it all away, a larger chest hurts your back and they will sag, looks will fade and take time to maintain the older you get, and unless you and your significant other die horrifically together there is no guarantee you'll have someone accompany you into the afterlife.

So yes we will all die alone, you, me and this Amy girl, so we at least have that in common." Lucy concludes as Kara stares wide eyed and Diane scooches away slowly from her but Mary looks onward.

"… Sigh, I apologize if my words have upse-" Lucy is silenced when Mary hugs her.

"Thank you." Mary silently gives Lucy her gratitude.

~XxX Flashback end XxX~

It was unusual that Lucy would willingly enjoy the company of someone else but after finding out she and Lincoln would be in this small town for a few months at least it felt right to attempt at making a good impression.

Maybe it was cheating but with her powers Lucy knew how to read the mood in a sense.

She knew Kara was just a curious woman who wanted hang out, something she hasn't had in a while with 'normal' people, not since she was back home in Royal Woods.

In between her cat, her former brother turned boyfriend, Lucy doesn't do much socializing and the way Kara seemed, straightforward in an attempt at befriending the two was just what Lucy needed, after all even she needs a break from the darkness and wants to feel 'normal'.

Lucy and Kara were currently walking around town and talked as Kara showed her around and introduced Lucy to the lovely people of Smallville.

Kara was a talker, asked a bunch of questions and Lucy only gave minimal answers not a lot of synergy between the two but Kara didn't voice a complaint.

Some questions included the standard stuff; age (17), favorite color (spooky), favorite season (fall), favorite movies (Edward Scissorhands, The crow or any horror movie) and favorite food (Blood pudding and anything Lincoln makes).

Lucy got to ask a few questions of her own.

Lucy learned that Kara just turned 18, is out of school and gave a few hints that she might be looking to explore the dead-zone, though Lucy didn't say anything, she would not say it was a good idea.

She also learned that the Kents have a large assortment of movies and shows on tape and disk, some of Kara's favorites include an old soap opera that Karen complains about and won't admit that she loves it too, it's called 'DR. Love MD' and it practically reeked old soap opera clichés. A hot young doctor falls off a boat and wakes up from a coma three years later when his fiancé married his evil twin who took his identity as he tries to fix his life and find love elsewhere with the student he mentored and is like 8 years younger than him before learning she has a terminal illness and meets her evil twin.

It almost got Lucy's interest. It reminded her of when she and Lincoln (12 and 15) were scavenging an old apartment building and in one they found an old DVD set of Spanish soap operas, it was entertaining to watch for a couple days even though neither could speak the language, only something weird happened.

A few days in and Lincoln was translating for her, sure he had a thing with Ronnie Anne and visited her and Bobby's family sometimes but that hardly meant he knew more than a few phrases but there he was speaking a language he couldn't make heads or tails of, almost fluently, mind you.

It came in real handy whenever they'd run into Spanish speaking communities, something similar happened when Lincoln met that French gir- '_No! Snap out of it!_'

Now she needed to put that out of her mind, Kara was asking another question when something caught Lucy's eye, a pharmacy.

The two had stopped in front of the store when Kara asked what Lucy was doing.

"I need to get some things from here." Lucy stated as if it were an obvious fact.

"What things do you need?"

"_Things_." Lucy said both ominously and as vaguely as possible.

Kara just rolled her eyes, "Female _things_?" She asked using air quotes.

Lucy paused for a moment, "Sure."

Lucy was quick about her business, '_Tonight_.' She thought as she places a few boxes of condoms on the counter while Kara blushes up a storm.

_'Just how many times do they plan to go at it, will that last them a while, how loud do they get, how freaky are they?'_ Kara asks herself as fast as she could think, _'No, just mind your own business Kara!'_

She shakes her head after so many thoughts race through her mind and as Lucy approaches she tries to act casual and fails as she eyes the bag in Lucy's possession.

-**Lincoln**-

Lincoln was making dinner when suddenly he remembered what he had forgotten from the store, nothing major but he was in the middle of cooking so he gave it some thought and decided to try something he doesn't normally practice.

Lincoln stepped away from his station for a moment and concentrated, with a grunt, a wispy white aura erupted from around his body and flowed next to him. That aura condensed into a body duplicate of himself, complete with the clothes he was wearing.

The white aura surrounding both bodies faded and there stood two Lincolns. During the tail-end of his edge lord phase, Lincoln encountered a man who could duplicate himself with little effort, his last mistake was harassing Lucy. They were mentally linked and shared memories and information.

A flaw in the man's power was splitting concentration and physical ability depending on the number of doppelgangers, for Lincoln he has to split stamina, some are not as strong and some cannot use all of the powers Lincoln has, the guy could produce dozens of body-doubles while Lincoln can currently make 3 in one sitting, 4 if he really pushes himself.

He hasn't really trained this power due to how taxing it was when he got it, they're not hive-minded and Lincoln doesn't gain memories until he reabsorbs them and he even gains back lost stamina, if they are destroyed, he gets nothing (what was the point of training it back in his edge lord phase).

The real reason he doesn't use this power often is because like most of his powers, Lincoln is ashamed of how he got them.

How he handled that guy was pretty bad, like most opponents Lincoln has fought, that multiplier was killed too. He really didn't deserve to die, all he really did was make lewd and sexual remarks at Lucy, what got Lincoln to fight him was grabbing her ass, Lucy was 14 and the guy looked at least 18 to Lincoln.

Lincoln was pretty sure he was going to let the guy live after drinking his blood (cause he was a blood thirsty edge-lord), it was when the multiplier and his replicas unloaded a storm of bullets onto Lincoln that sealed his fate, Lucy was not happy with Lincoln.

Lincoln snaps out of it and looks to his duplicate.

He quickly tells his body-double what he needs and sends him off as Lincoln gets back to cooking.

~X~

Clone Lincoln had made his way through town after picking up the ingredient Lincoln had missed.

The trip was made in silence as he thought to himself, '_Man, this is still trippy, was I born today or am I just an extension of the real Lincoln, what happens when I disappear, I know HE gets my memories but will HE even feel me disappear?_' these were typical feelings any Lincoln doppelganger had when they were free to do whatever.

The replica had heard people moving and looked behind him to see a few soldiers in grey jumpsuits, helmets and black flak jackets/body armor, these were Slade's men.

Were they going somewhere important Lincoln wondered, '_Eh, not my business_.'

He went back to walking but couldn't shake the feeling that their eyes were on him.

The clone turned back and saw the group turn away.

Clone Lincoln stares on for a hot second before asking, "Is there something I can help you with?"

As he stared on he took notice of two men and one woman, neither of the guys would speak up until the woman lets out a sigh, "You're actin' like a couple of babies." She looks onto Lincoln, "Are you Lincoln Park?" She had an accent Lincoln sort of recognizes, kind of like Luna's.

He lets out a snort as he stifled a chuckle, "~Why yes, yes I am~." He says holding in his giggles, "Is there something the matter?"

"Yes, you and your… friend came into town through the barricade correct?" The woman asks.

Lincoln nods, "That we did, yes."

"The thing is last night patrol had sent scouts back through it wonderin' if any BOW's were followin' you or if IT came back." Lincoln raised an eyebrow waiting for some enlightenment, "We didn't have a name for 'em until you drifters from deeper in the dead-zone told us locals call 'em deathclaws."

Clone Lincoln eyes widen behind his cloned shades, "Oh, what about them?" He tried to play dumb.

She continues, "Some months back, there was an incident the next town over, they got overrun by a pack of em and the one leadin' was a big ugly green one." Lincoln kept nodding.

"We were on it but six of em at once pretty much tore through most of the people runnin' from em. Those deathclaws had a bunch of BOW's following after em, real nasty class ones.

We could take care of class ones no problem, but we could only get 1 of em deathclaws, then the big green one goes berserk. We lost the chief then Slade had to take over, if it weren't for them Kents, we'd have been done for."

Lincoln speaks up, "What happened exactly and what does this have to do with me?" A fair question that the woman doesn't answer right away.

"So Slade was takin' the big one on himself while everyone else was holdin' off the others, I mean the guy was just hackin' and slashin' away at it, he even got it in the eye."

'_Well that explains a few things_.' Lincoln thought to himself.

"Anyway, some more of our own get killed and two more gang up on the lieutenant and that's when the Kent boys came in and one of the girls, the taller one with a giant rack, so they just came and wreck shop, so we had room to breathe but no one could really pin down em deathclaws but after the jolly green giant took a swipe at that little shit _Conner_, his big bro punched the thing so goddamn hard it just rockets back into Colorado.

I mean he punched the shit out of it, mah ears were ringing for hours with that shockwave, hehe, sent his ass back to last week was what farm boy did.

With their boss gone, the others just hightailed it out of here, with em gone we had everyone who could drive, line up cars while the Kents and some _other_ volunteers stack em on top, wide enough to not have to worry about them sneakin' in when we least expect it, a couple of weeks later we got a long ass wire fence shipped in from outside the wall then here we are."

Lincoln was about to say something when she spoke up again.

"So imagine our surprise when our scouts pulled in about an hour ago tellin' us those same five deathclaws that poked around every now and again were all dead."

Before she went on, one of the boys by her side voiced, "So we figured two new mutants and their _pet_ might have something to do with it."

"Shut it Francis!" The woman spoke out with a commanding tone. She turns back to address Lincoln.

"So anyway, the lieutenant didn't ask cause we figured you'd be dead if you saw em but now we gotta know, was it you two?"

Lincoln saw no point in denying it so he just nods, "Yeah it was us."

The three were not expecting a straight answer so quickly and just looked to each other before _Francis_ spoke up in an aggressive tone, "Why didn't you tell the lieutenant! We were worried it could've been something bigger tha-"

"Enough!" The last guy shouted, shutting Francis up, he turns to Lincoln and began, "Please understand, we were concerned that there may be a reason to prepare for an EVAC in case something would cause a need for panic."

Lincoln nods, "Understandable."

"Also, I'd like to express my thanks and ask if you would please come with us, so we may inform the lieutenant of this development, he probably has more questions for the two of you but considering we have you now, we can get this cleared up sooner than later."

"Oh well, I kinda have something going on right now, if we could reschedule-"

Francis interrupted, "And where do you think you're going?" He demanded.

Lincoln gives him a bored look, "Uh this new place called none of your business!" Lincoln snaps at him.

Francis tries to step up to him as Lincoln narrows his eyes and even behind his shades Francis feels something crawl up his spine and twitches a bit.

Just as he is about to open his mouth Francis is stopped by the other guy, "Are you serious right now?"

"He's asking for it!"

"Goddamn it Frankie, this is exactly why Slade told us to babysit sit you."

"Babysit? Motherfucker's right here doing-" He's interrupted by the woman.

"Absolutely nothin'. Slade already gave him the okay, you really wanna be pullin' this shit after you just got off probation?"

Francis was about to say something when he stops and just walks off, the other man walks after him (probably to make sure ~Frankie~ doesn't do anything stupid).

The woman turns back to Lincoln and sighs, "Look, when you get a chance, come down by the station that's where you'll find us, we'll tell Slade what you told us, but he'll be wantin' to hear it from your own mouth."

Lincoln nods and she walks off, Lincoln would ask for her name but after dealing with militia as much as he did, names and faces sort of blend, if he doesn't think he'll see you again he won't bother asking for your name, at least not when you're a 'faceless drone' in Lincoln's words.

Besides it's not like they introduced themselves, why should he care, better question, why _does_ he care right now?

He's staring off at them before they turn the corner.

The clone of Lincoln let's go of the issue and decides to let it be _real_ Lincoln's problem.

-**Lucy and Kara**-

Things were a bit awkward between Lucy and Kara, neither have said a word to one another since coming from the pharmacy.

The two had passed by a woman and her crying baby, Lucy had stopped and went to her, The woman looked tired, and the baby kept wailing, after getting the woman's attention, Lucy had engaged her in light conversation maybe she asked a question but before the woman answered her baby calmed down and she had brightened up.

After they were finished Lucy had walked back to Kara leaving the mother and her child happier than they've felt in a long time.

Lucy and Kara wordlessly wondered into a less crowded area.

Kara occasionally snuck glances at the bag full of condoms Lucy was holding onto and her cheeks grew a pink tinge as she pictured Lincoln and Lucy going at it.

She catches herself drifting and pulls herself back from her fantasies as the two walked by an empty park.

Lucy finds an unused bench and takes a seat, leaving space for Kara as she sat.

The two just look forward, Lucy wore an expressionless gaze and Kara was trying not to picture the two new drifters having hot, steamy, bed-rocking, wall-thumping sex, but she does and her face grows an even deeper shade of red.

A voice snaps Kara out of her daze.

"Have I made you uncomfortable Kara?" Lucy asked knowing what may be going on in Kara's head.

"Yeah, yeah, totally… I mean NO! No you didn't." Kara tried and failed to respond in a normal tone.

Lucy believing that for all of 0 seconds, "I owe you an apology-" She's stopped.

"No you don't because you have nothing to apologize for!" Kara says in one breath, desperately trying to take her attention elsewhere.

"Sigh, I can feel your emotions, I know you are very curious, self-conscious and worst of all you have this misplaced sense of shame looming over you. Had I known my purchase of contraceptives would put you in this state of turmoil, I would have been more discreet about my business." Lucy said in a comforting tone.

"… I mean, I get it, you two don't do anything differently than any other couple, heck my sister had boyfriends and they were not shy about what they did, so I guess it's good to know that you two, being together are practicing safe sex if you're doing it regularly."

"… Right… regularly… sigh." Lucy let's out an exhausted sigh and Kara catches that.

"I… uh, did I say something wrong?" She asks thinking she may have stepped on a land mine of sorts.

"Sigh, it's nothing." By her tone, Kara can guess Lucy wants to talk about it, maybe.

"C'mon Luce, it's just us girls here, you can talk to me, I mean you don't know me that well and being in a small town word gets around fast but if it does that means I told someone which I won't! You have my word." Kara awkwardly said, trying to comfort Lucy but had some worry in her words.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you. Lincoln and I haven't exactly had… relations… yet." '_Why am I telling her this_?'

"Oh well it's not that uncommon for couples to wait until they're ready… especially if they've been dating for… for… how long have you two been toge-"

"A little over a year." Lucy said a little too excitedly.

"Oh, uh, how long have you two known each other?"

"Sigh… all my life." She said a bit somberly, '_Stop! She'll find out_!'

"Well… okay, I mean if you're not ready, I don't see a reason to force it-" Kara is cut off.

"I want to, I really, _really_ want to, but something keeps stopping me." '_You don't need to tell her this_.'

"What's wrong?" Kara, very curious as to why this couple can't do what couples do.

"… Years ago, unfortunate events transpired and we haven't been the same since and now that we're together it's starting to come between us." '_Why am I talking about this, I haven't even known her more than a day, so why_?'

"What happened?" Kara sked with worry forming at the pit of her stomach.

"… I don't want to talk about it." Lucy had her monotonous voice back and Kara decided to leave it at that.

"Alright, well maybe that's not a bad thing, I mean you guys don't have to… cross that bridge now, no one's forcing you to do anything."

"But that's just it, I want to and I know Lincoln suffers for it too." Lucy says with worry in her voice.

Curious as to what she means Kara asks.

"He has incredible stamina, he's been with other women before me and I know he can last a long time." Kara's face had gone red again with her words, "But now that he hasn't _been_ with anyone_,_ the pressure is building up," she pauses, "And I know I am to blame for a lot of it."

"Oh come on, you can't blame your-"

"I've been tempting him with bouts of eroticism, lewd behavior and brief glimpses of nudity in hopes of enticing him to take me but I back out of it because I'm too scared to ask for sex." Lucy just blurts it out.

Kara to her credit did not voice her outlandish thoughts but she was total picturing Lucy trying to seduce Lincoln and for some reason picturing Lucy in sexy vampire costume.

This really was a lot to take in for Kara, usually she has to listen to Karen's sexual exploits and begrudgingly find interest in her stories.

Kara simply wasn't used to being a 'counselor' for someone she barely knows.

Lucy found the experience both freeing and amusing, to get this weight off her chest and watching Kara's reaction but the feelings rolling off of Kara were a little much at the moment.

"I don't mean to put this on you Kara but I haven't had anyone to talk to about this in well… ever, sigh." Lucy admits dejectedly.

Kara wasn't listening, she was just off, lost in her imagination. Lucy had snapped her fingers in Kara's face but she hadn't come out of it.

"Kara, Kara… sigh," '_Perhaps th_-' Her thoughts are cutoff by Kara snapping out of her daze.

"Ahh, Iwasn'tthinkingaboutyoutwotogether, *****Cough***** I'm listening." She hollered with a gasp.

Lucy just stares blankly then smiles, "It seems some of are less experienced with matters of the opposite sex than others." Lucy teased.

Kara took this with offence.

"Oh like you've done anything with your boyfriend, I thought you two couldn't get it on." She said with a huff.

Lucy smirked, "I implied we haven't had _intercourse_, I never said we haven't _done_ anything together." Lucy ended with a smug grin that grew when Kara's cheeks brightened as her eyes gained a glazed look.

"Ha Ha." Lucy gave a dry chuckle as Kara looked over to her and giggles alongside her new friend.

-**The Lincolns**-

Real Lincoln and his doppelganger had finished making dinner as the clone retold of his encounter with Slade's men.

"… And that's what happened, boss." The clone finished.

The real Lincoln had been listening intently to his doppelganger and took a moment to think about what to do.

*****Sigh***** "I should go to Slade now and make sure shit doesn't come my way. Alright thanks man, you're done here."

With that the clone closed his eyes as a pale white light overtook his form and turned into a wispy aura once more and flowed back into Lincoln, Lincoln took a moment to relive the experience, but why have his clone tell him what happened if he could just see the events unfold, easy he needs to know what he's looking for when trying to remember what his clones do, it's easy for memories to get jumbled up with a mass of knowledge coming back in not that this was much to begin with but it was a habit Lincoln refuses to break.

Lincoln made another clone and told him to finish with the food and wait for Lucy to get in.

With a nod Lincoln's new body double went right to work.

Lincoln made his way to the door and took a breath, "Let's hope it won't take too long."

"See ya boss!" The clone called out as Lincoln walked out the door."

-**_XxX_**-

Out in the open in front of the sheriff's station stood a crowd.

Slade was surrounded by his own men, about 15 in total, no one seems to have body armor or helmets, just their jumpsuits and by the looks of it a mix of men and women, not that it mattered.

It's a standoff as one guy yells and charged in with three others.

Slade saw it coming and turned to them.

The first guy of the Special Forces tries to throw a punch which Slade deflects and kicks his hip making him stagger back.

Slade punches him in the face and it looks to be enough to knock him out. Slade hits hard and they know this.

2 more SF officers try to get him in a pincer attack but Slade sweeps the leg, one falls to it while the other had enough sense to hop over it and try to catch him with a flying punch while Slade's back was turned.

Though he did not see the man, Slade knew what was happening and ducked, dodging the punch aimed for his head.

Slade quickly saw the guy of the group of four charge at him with a haymaker, but Slade hooked his arm with the guy's and swung over his back and hooked his legs around the officer's free arm, then Slade flipped them both over with him on top and his opponent face down,

The third guy who tried to attack Slade from behind earlier tried to give him a roundhouse but Slade caught it and gave his ankle a twist with enough force to spin the guy and flip him onto the ground.

A group of 7 came after Slade and he responded to each accordingly.

One tried to tackle Slade only for him to turn and evade letting the next guy run up to him.

Before the guy could do anything, Slade gave him a quick jab to the throat and gave him a roundhouse.

While in the motion of his roundhouse Slade quickly turned and gave an uppercut to another SF officer.

From behind Slade felt someone finally grab onto his free arm and tug on it, he immediately flipped and twisted himself onto his assailant and locked him into a flying arm bar, ending with Slade slamming the poor guy onto the hard ground.

Slade got up and saw the remaining four charge at him and as he was about to move, the one who failed to tackle him had Slade in a full-nelson, immobilizing him, if only for a moment.

Slade leaned back hurled the SF officer at the group but only managed to get one, good enough.

The 3 charged at Slade with one in front and the other 2 going at him from both sides.

The one in front threw a straight punch but Slade leapt to the guy and planted a palm on his face, causing him to fall over and while they were falling, Slade extended his legs in perfect splits and kicked the remaining two SF officers in their chests and slammed the one within his grasp to the ground with a loud thud.

All that remained of the SF's were 4 officers.

The four looked to each other and one by one they charged Slade who was working up a sweat, he was getting too old for these acrobatics.

The first officer tried a running punch but was rewarded with a kick to the hip as he stumbled back.

The second officer came the others place and threw a flurry of punches all of which were deflected by Slade as he pivoted with his foot, turned his body and caught officer number two's gut with a vicious elbow and then pivoted his foot again to throw a punch with all the force added by the turn to send officer two to the ground.

Officer three tried a drop kick but was grabbed by the ankle and thrown onto the ground as Slade stomped on his chest.

Officer one came back to give a punch to the back of the head but Slade dropped to the ground and swept the legs but as Slade got back up something caught him from behind again and sent him to the dirt.

He looked back and saw officer four kneeling and figured that she must've done a drop kick like number three failed to do.

Slade got up and charged number four but number one caught his leg and almost tripped him up.

Number three got back up and numbers one, three and four surrounded Slade with 'one' behind him and 'three' and 'four' in front.

They all paused for a brief moment and then he struck.

Slade gave a straight kick to number four in front and without looking backfisted number one behind him as he parried a punch from number three, Slade gave a left cross to number four sending her down to the ground.

Slade moved his head when number three tried to give him a cross to the face and countered with an uppercut to the chin sending number three down and finished number one behind him with a turning roundhouse.

Making sure everyone was down, Slade let out a haggard breath, "That was… alright… compared to last time but you could all do better." Slade said as everyone was either groaning from mild pains or trying to catch their breath.

Slade takes a few minutes to point out the individual flaws in every officer's approach and options.

The most disappointing part of this practice exercise was seeing everyone pretty much do the same thing; charge at Slade head on.

After sending his people back to their stations he spots someone walking his way and turns to see Lincoln.

"Ahh, Mr. Park, thank you for coming, follow me." Slade instructed Lincoln as he was led into the lieutenant's office, the same one.

~X~

Within Slade's office, the two are seated as Slade himself spoke.

"I'd like to take a moment to thank you for what you and Ms. Graves did for us but I have to ask, why didn't you say anything about it."

"It didn't seem relative when I came here the first time, you didn't ask, I didn't tell." Lincoln responded.

Lieutenant Wilson pauses and thinks.

Lincoln seeing this decides to look around and spots Slade's katana again. He takes in the design, the kind of thing Lincoln loved in his otaku phase before the walls came up.

When he was younger, Lincoln imagined and pretended he'd wield one (either magically enchanted or possessed because why not). Six years behind the walls have dulled that sense of wonder in otaku culture. With his powers, Lincoln could and has constructed weapons of various shapes and for a number of purposes.

He's done it so many times, the simple katana has practically lost its charm but there was still something about seeing a real one that held Lincoln's attention.

Lincoln is snapped out of it by the sound of Slade's voice, "I see you're admiring my Soultaker. A real beauty that one, it's one of a kind and has a real history."

"I guess." Lincoln shrugs as Slade huffs.

"~I guess~," Slade mocks, "I'll have you know it wasn't easy to come by and it has served me well." He states as Lincoln perks up.

"So I've heard." Slade raises an eyebrow.

"And what did you hear?" He asks Lincoln.

"What happened before you had that gate and stack of cars walling you off. That you took on a deat- uh, a B.O.W with that thing and left your mark." Lincoln ends with a smirk.

"Damn right." Slade said with a smirk of his own.

"Where did you get it anyway?" Lincoln asked finally letting his interest show.

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Now that would be telling, all I can say is it was forged by a master Japanese swordsmith in the 14th century and made its way into my hands." He ended with a narrowed eye.

"… I see."

"But enough about that, I heard you had a little run in with three of my own and one wasn't very polite with his request, for that I apologize but now that you're here I need you to tell me what happened and please… leave nothing out."

~X~

Lincoln had told Slade of his encounter with the pack of deathclaws.

Slade wondered if they'd seen any other B.O.W's with them, Lincoln answered no as he hypothesized the pack must've eaten them all.

All seemed to be right with their meeting, then Slade asked a question.

"If I had asked you and Ms. Graves to accompany my men on a hunt, would you accept?"

"I don't think Lucy would be up for it but other than that, it depends what we're going after and how's the pay?" Lincoln gave his answer with a smile.

"Well I don't think we can really pay you and considering how much you got on hand I think paying you would be unnecessarily redundant. *****"Oh think again"*****

… But we could negotiate a few favors here and there to accommodate the two of you."

"That's fair, so when's this hypothetical job?" Lincoln asks.

"In three days. Up north we've had activity and it's looking like some class 2's may be migrating, the thing is they don't move on their own from what we've seen, something's moving them.

I don't have the numbers to split our forces and I'm not too keen on asking the locals.

What happened back then was an emergency and I'm not having farm hands kill themselves over this but drifters who've had experience with this sort of thing might be what I'm looking for." Slade finishes.

Lincoln thinks for a moment, "Yeah, okay, I think we can make this work and I think I have a favor in return."

Slade nods as the two begin talking.

-**_XxX_**-

Back in the motel room Lincoln had finished making dinner when he heard a knock at the door and opened it to see Lucy and Kara.

Lincoln takes to look over Lucy, missing what she was holding behind her back.

Clean straight cut bangs and a nice trim but her eyes are still covered. Lincoln looks to Kara who's hair seems shinier then when they last met.

"Wow, Luce, you look great, did you do something with your hair." He snickers as he hears Kara give a pity chuckle.

Lucy gives a small smile and a look that Lincoln recognizes as her rolling her eyes.

"Thanks for noticing." Lucy pecks Lincoln's cheek as Salem hopped out of her shadow and onto Lincoln's shoulder.

"And hello to you too Salem, *****"meowr"***** yeah, yeah I got food ready, get off my back."

Kara felt it was a good time to take her leave and so she spoke up.

"Well it's been fun Luce, but the suns going down, I gotta get going." Then Lincoln asked her a question.

"Wait so is someone picking you up or…" He ends in lull.

"No, I'm leaving the same way I came."

"Which is?" Lincoln asks.

"I flew in." As she said that Lincoln remembered the passing shadow and seeing it more than once.

"Oh right you're the flyer, how did I space on that, pretty cool though."

"Yeah, it's pretty neat-" Everyone paused as the door opened again, Lucy and Salem were alerted as Kara jumped back but Lincoln suddenly remembered what was going on.

"Alright I'm ba-" The real Lincoln paused as he saw what He stepped into, "Crap, I knew I forgot something." He normally 'inspects' rooms and contents before entering a room, he would have found Kara that way but it was his place so why bother looking he thought.

He looks to Kara who was having a brain meltdown, "Anyway I can convince you, you're dreaming?"

Kara's eyes wide with shock had a hundred questions racing through her head, she took in a deep breath but before she could speak, Lucy's hand covered her mouth.

"Sorry, but please take a moment to collect your thoughts before you say anything." Lucy told Kara before giving Lincoln a hard glare.

"Hehe, woops hehe, I uh like what you did with your hair-" He is interrupted by his duplicate.

"Yeah don't even try it buddy." The clone said while softly shaking his head.

Lincoln was steamed at his clone, "Dude, whose side are you on?"

"Lucy's." The clone responded as Lucy huffed with a smirk then glared at Lincoln.

"This isn't exactly keeping a low profile Lincoln." Lucy said with a monotonously stern voice.

"Well excuse me, I didn't know you'd be back so soon, I was gone maybe half an hour tops, I thought girls took forever to get their hair did." Lincoln said as Lucy spoke up.

"Sigh, it matters not, Kara has questions and I'm assuming our usual answer will not be enough."

Kara voices out, "No, no it won't, so what am I seeing, because right now I'm seeing two Lincolns, are you both Lincoln, is one of you a clone, are both of you clones, are there more of you, what else can you do, what kind of power is this, I've never met anyone who could do this." He questions just kept coming and coming.

-**_XxX_**-

With the clone absorbed back into Lincoln, he needed to find an explanation that would satisfy Kara.

Lincoln planned to stall but as soon as he opened his mouth questions just poured out of Kara.

He had told her he'd only answer one question seeing as she had somewhere to be.

"What are your powers exactly?" Kara knew what to ask knowing there was more to it than 'it's complicated'.

Lincoln looked to Lucy who only shrugged.

"Uh, I don't know exactly-" Kara stops him.

"Oh bullshit, you're strong enough to put Conner on his knees, you absorbed Karen's solar beam or whatever and apparently you can make more of you, what else is there?" Kara half asks half demands.

Lincoln shares a look with Lucy, "Honestly, I really don't know. Why are you giving me the third degree anyway, that's none of your business?" He tries to defend himself.

"I'm not asking a lot, *****"You kind of are"***** I just want to know, what it is. You know my powers… sort of." She whispered that last part, Lincoln heard, "It's only fair, c'mon be a pal?"

"Look, I can do a lot, I can't tell you everything but I do have a weird power."

"Yeah I got that part, I'm not dumb, and I know some can get more than one but when I saw you take Karen's attack I thought you were like her, now I don't know."

Lincoln was silent, years ago having more than one power set was rare but feasible, having more than one power set from different classes were unheard of.

He's had multiple run-ins with people who wanted to – A; dissect him, B; control him or C; breed him.

That's not to mention the endless questions and recognition of rumors that still follow him.

Giving away information to just anybody would be considered strategic suicide.

For the most part he tries not to reveal the full extent of his abilities but using his powers has become more of a reflex than anything, it's like breathing; natural and sometimes unaware of it. He's had to practice his individual skill to gain better control or strengthen them so using random powers where ever he goes has been a common occurrence.

He hasn't had the need to make excuses for his different powers for a while and currently it's becoming a hassle, he and Lucy are old enough to steer clear from danger and strong enough to handle anything that comes their way.

Really making an excuse for this particular moment seemed unnecessary but he still couldn't take the chance that word would find its way to people he doesn't want it to.

Take a chance with part of the truth he thought, the less she knew the better in his opinion.

"I… can copy powers." Not a lie but still far from the truth.

Kara paused and seemed to nod to herself, "Okay, that wasn't so hard and I guess I get it, I may have been a bit… pushy, *****"You think"***** alright I may have been invasive and you may have your reasons for hiding it… *****cough***** and I owe you an apology, totally understand if you changed your mind about dinner at my place."

Lucy looks to Lincoln and gives her a look as they both nod, "We'd still like to-"

"Cool, cool!" Kara blurts as she goes on, "I'll see you both there at 5pm, see ya then!" She rushes to the door leaving no more room for talk.

As Kara makes it out the door, she hovers off the ground and flies off in the direction of her home.

As the Louds watch her go Lincoln let's out a sigh in relief and then they go back inside to have their own dinner.

-**Kara**-

As the young adult makes her way home via flight a thought occurs.

"Wait!" She shouted to herself.

'_If he can copy powers, that would explain why he was a match for Conner and could eat Karen's solar ray thing but wouldn't that be temporary and who did he get self-printing powers from?_

_ Was he lying to me?_' She thought as the farm came into view, questions for another time, '_I'll find out more tomorrow_.' Kara concludes.

-**_XxX_**-

Dinner was extravagant as Lucy would put it.

Her charred steak was perfection and she was content or would be if not for her aching back.

The down side of owning large assets; the constant back pain. Thankfully she had something or _someone_ who could make the hurt go away.

'_Now for phase 1_.' Lucy thought.

"~Oh Lincoln!~" She calls to him in soothing voice as her lips curve upward.

"Yes Lucy." He answers.

"I am in need of your magic hands, the pain has returned."

Lincoln raises a brow and grins, "Alright Luce, you know the drill, _assume the position_."

Lucy approached a bed and began removing her clothes until all that remained were crimson lacy underwear, her _sexy_ underwear. They hugged her form and left little to the imagination, her curvy, voluptuous figure was enough to drive most men and women wild but to see her standing in such beautiful, lacy fabric made Lincoln happy that he was the only one who gets to see this part of his girl.

-**_XxX_**-

"Mmmmmmm. Oooooh." The room was filled with the throaty moans of Lucy as Lincoln straddled her, groping her back.

"Mmm lower." Lucy commands.

Lincoln's hands traveled Lucy's curvaceous body, they glide down to the small of her back just as he begins to heat up his hands (to loosen knots, undo clots and increase blood flow) and let them go to town on her.

The ravenette moaned even louder before burying her head into the bed to muffle the sounds which were still audible. Lincoln laughed softly and just kept going.

Lucy was griping the sheets before she felt the tension in her back ease and started breathing normally, she was about to tell Lincoln to stop before a thought popped into her head and remembered what she was after.

She thought back to her recent 'purchase' and knew it was time. Lucy knew the best way to put Lincoln in the mood.

'_But first_.'

Lucy looked to Salem who was just chilling on the free bed and then she looked to her owner… uh friend… food giver (?) and received a message of sorts. Salem sunk into her own shadow, taking the sheets with her and moved through the crack of the door to the bathroom, somehow knowing not to come back for some time, how Lucy conveyed that to the cat with emotions remains a mystery but Lucy figured she should get Salem out before she started.

While her face was buried in the sheets, Lucy decided to put her impromptu plan into motion. As Lincoln was working on her mid back, the ivory skinned empath began emitting some kind of feeling, one that sped her heart beat and hitched her breath. Lincoln narrowed his golden eyes as some form of haze clouded his thoughts for a brief moment and he noticed his hands reaching over to the ends of his lover's waist.

Slowly, those traitorous hands of his inched their way upward as they continued massaging her sides. His breathing became harder and harder as he felt a familiar grinding sensation on his crotch, Lincoln looked to see the luscious, round, firm ass he's admired for so long, groove in between his legs.

He could see a fierce shade of pink erupt onto his lover's back, neck and face.

'_So that's your game, Luce, okay, two can play that game_.' Lincoln mused to himself as he moved his hands to the clip of Lucy's brassier and undid them like a pro. He used to have problems with this but practice has given him the dexterity needed for such a simple task that has plagued men of inexperience.

As he unhooked Lucy's bra her blush had gotten deeper and with that her grinding had become more ferocious, going from a slow and enticing form of foreplay to dry-humping and Lincoln was ready to return her affectionate challenge as his hands returned to her waist.

'_Oh you're in for it now, Luce_!' And now Lincoln has stepped up to the plate.

**XxX{Lemon}XxX**

Quick, shield your eyes

What had started as just a massage has now turned into a '**R**épondez **s**'il **v**ous **p**lait' from Lucy and Lincoln won't hesitate to accept her invitation. Lincoln's _warming_ hands caressed her waist and pulled her onto her knees, she kept her face down and buried as to hide her smile.

Lucy's toes curled to the tender touch of Lincoln whose warm hands have made their way to her backside. Her grip on the sheets tightens in anticipation.

Lincoln had her cheeks in his hands and knew exactly how to work them. He fondled her butt, gripping and spreading her cheeks apart as he saw her thighs squirm in elation.

*****Gasp***** Lucy's breath stopped for an instant.

Lincoln's thumb had prodded the 'wrong hole', he didn't dig any further but let his thumb trail its way to the wet spot over her womanhood. Now Lucy's face was burning red as she felt her dear Lincoln peel back her lacy crimson red panties with a glistening string of her juices sticking to her underwear, only breaking when Lincoln pulled the lacy fabric down to her knees.

"Damn Luce, I didn't know you wanted it _this_ bad. Just look at how wet you are but don't worry, I'll take care of you real soon." Lincoln told her with such a smug tone.

Lucy didn't want to respond, she didn't want him to see her smile in excitement and just when she thought it couldn't get any wider, her face almost broke when she felt his lips kiss her lower lips.

Lincoln had given Lucy's cunt a peck coupled with his tongue giving a quick dart in between her folds and then retreating causing her to quietly shriek.

'_Not so fun when you're the one getting teased is it_.' Thought Lincoln as he left a trail of kisses all around Lucy's rear and felt her wiggle her butt, waiting for _something_ _else_, _something more_.

'_Oh that's no way to get me to do what you want Luce_.' He grabs her butt and holds it still.

"Eeeek!" Came the muffled shout of Lucy when she felt a hard slap to her butt before Lincoln gives her another, "Uhhnnn!" Lucy moans along the sound of her ever-reddening cheeks being struck.

The meaty sounds of plump flesh being smacked around were resonating with Lucy yelping and moaning while trying to bury her head even deeper into the bed not wanting to give Lincoln the satisfaction of knowing he was driving her insane. As fun as this forceful play was, she wanted him to focus where she needed him to; her drooling, wet pussy, dripping at this point, her juices running down her thighs as a wet spot appeared on the bed. She really didn't want to say it out loud but she wanted Lincoln to eat her like a goddam monster, to fuck her with his tongue and ravish her like a he was supposed to do with his woman.

Lincoln went back to kissing Lucy's red butt, giving it soothing, _heated_ _kisses_ where a handprint was when suddenly a _force_ pushed his face over her soaked twat as she pushed her ass into his face, grabbing her own cheeks and spreading them for him. The message was clear; 'EAT ME'.

"Okay, I get it, Luce, could've just told me, asking works too y'know." He whispers as he aligned himself with her and was just about ready to dive into that pool.

Lucy felt she couldn't wait any longer and was about to smash her rear into Lincoln's face again to get the ball rolling but was caught off guard when she felt his face bury into her ass, she couldn't suppress her groans and wailed as Lincoln's lips met with her own folds, was giving it deep kisses and sucked on her. A deep howl escaped Lucy and she heard AND felt Lincoln chuckle with his mouth full of her and then that wonderful feeling intensified when she sensed his tongue running along her lips.

Lucy bravely tried to endure and stifle a deep moan but she had to lift her head and let it out, "Ahh!" And there it was, she broke and with that, she felt Lincoln's mouth form a smug grin as his hand reached out under her stomach and made contact with her clit, '_Yes_!' that's when Lincoln shifted gears.

His tongue retreated back into his mouth and before Lucy could object she threw her head back when his tongue pierced the folds of her pussy and swirled along the walls of her flesh. Lincoln was good at this, it came with the practice, giving a nice French kiss to Lucy's lower mouth was how he could get her to be more… honest and talkative.

"Ahh, More! MORE DAMMIT!" Lucy damn near screamed as she rocked her butt into his face and forced his head farther into her, his nose was poking her anus as his tongue reached even deeper, her rocking didn't slow his progress one bit, it made him more eager to finish her off.

"Harder! HARDER!" Lucy demanded from Lincoln. Lincoln's experience was never more apparent to her when he did as she commanded and Lucy felt a familiar feeling build up, her eyes watered and rolled back, she gritted her teeth but her mouth was leaking drool, the thing that sent her off the edge was when Lincoln grabbed her arms and pulled them to him, arching her back and forced her up as she sunk onto his mouth, his hot, _burning_ mouth, "UhhhAAAAH! LINCOLN!"

The walls of Lucy's vag tightened around Lincoln's tongue as she yelled up to the ceiling, "Yes, yes… YES!" Juices poured down Lincoln's tongue and into his mouth, even with the fluids of her sex flowing through his mouth, Lincoln continued to wiggle his tongue, further stimulating Lucy well beyond her climax.

Lucy rode out her orgasm with liquids running down both ends of her body as her eyes rolled as far as they could, when she finally came down from her post-climax high, Lincoln pulled his mouth out of Lucy, she relaxed and fell to her side, twitching and muttering to herself.

Lincoln wore a proud smirk seeing Lucy a disoriented mess of a woman who herself had on a crooked smile telling Lincoln he's already fucked her silly with just his tongue.

A wicked thought came to the silver-haired mutant, '_The night's still young Lucy and we're far from done_.'

Lincoln turned her over to her back and pulled her panties off of her legs and tossed them to a corner, he leaned over to her and pulled off her unhooked bra and ditched them too.

Taking a moment to admire the body of his raven-haired, ivory-skinned, buxom beauty, he gazed at her from top to bottom. Her frazzled dark hair with one exposed glowing, neon-blue eye, her smooth face still contorted with joy and mild exhaustion with her heavy breathing. Her full lips, dull-pink in color and slightly parted with a grin.

Her freed, big, round, perky, milky-white, twin orbs with two tiny pink rosebuds for nipples. As much as he tries not to stare, Lincoln can't help but feel enthralled whenever he sees them bare and presented for him.

Something that catches his attention from her voluptuous figure is a scar over the right side of her abdominals. A bullet scar, a deep one at that, Lincoln's hand caresses the skin around the scar as he plants several kisses all over her stomach, even getting the scar. Lincoln rubs her bone-white thighs as he continues to kiss and admire Lucy's body.

His eyes travel downward in between her legs with a small patch of dark hair, the quirk of a small patch of darkness above her milky-white legs currently spread for Lincoln as her face still carried a dazed look but quickly found herself snapping out of it.

Lucy's vision had cleared enough to see Lincoln kissing on her and still clothed, '_Well let's change that_.' She sat up alerting Lincoln to her consciousness, as he looked back to her, Lucy pushed him back-down onto the bed as she straddled him.

As Lucy leaned closer, feeling her hot breath on him, Lincoln pushed forward and captured her lips, Lucy unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off of him all the while he was playing with her body. One hand groping her butt as the other fondled a boob.

"Ahh!" Lucy pulled away shrieking as she felt Lincoln's fingers pinching her nips. As she pulled away, Lucy couldn't help but gaze at her lover's bare upper body. Defined muscles, solidly toned abs, she was used to feeling his arms, and in reality sometimes they were comparable to bricks, so hard, and his abs were no different. In contrast to her own curvy body that had little muscle but was in no way unhealthy, Lincoln's body had very minimal fat if any while his muscular frame wasn't overly bulky or was a mountain of muscle, it was dense, sculpted out of marble and lightly coated in caramel.

Lucy had to take it all in, he had a larger frame then say; a swimmer's body and more compact than a weightlifter's, Lucy _needed_ to get closer.

Her hands ran over Lincoln's abs, '_So hard_.' She couldn't help but gain a healthy blush, there've been plenty of times when she's imagined herself to be bound by this body, being held down and assaulted with his lips, caressed and toyed with, her body was heating up again as her lower mouth shivered. She had a mighty need again, so soon.

Lincoln was receiving the emotions she was emanating and knew she was ready to go again.

"Oh someone's ready for more." He said as Lucy looked away but not denying it, "But I think it's time for you to return the favor, don't you think, Lucy." Lincoln told her with his eyes narrowed in a playful manner.

Lucy rolled her eyes while holding a slight smile, she knew he didn't have to ask, she was looking forward to this part. She had Lincoln lean back as she crawled to his pecs, lathering his upper body with kisses from her full, pink lips while rubbing his sternum with one hand as it traveled down, down, down to his abs. Lucy looked into her lover's face as her mouth caught a nipple as her hand felt up his rock hard muscles, she pulled her face from his chest and traveled down landing soft pecks on Lincoln's abs. Six fully formed abs with an outline of two lower abs near the crotch (never skip leg day) as her hands undid the button to his pants.

Not wanting to put in the extra effort, Lucy had used her **TK** powers to pull off Lincoln's pants, socks and briefs.

'_Okay, if she wants to take the fun out it, then fine_.' Lincoln grumbled his thoughts.

Lucy chuckled a little, feeling his disappointment but stopped after seeing his erection. It wasn't the first time she's seen it and far from the only one but there was something about Lincoln's that always left her speechless. Right now, Lincoln was standing at full mass, Lucy wasn't an expert in sizes but knew Lincoln was big, not as long as some of the male adult actors from Luna's and Luan's internet histories and according to the magazines Lynn hides (and didn't think Lucy knew about), those men stood around 12-14 inches, Lincoln wasn't THAT huge, thank goodness, Lucy doesn't want to think how something like that could fit in her.

If she had to take a guess, Lucy would say Lincoln's phallus stood at 9 maybe 10 inches and from what she heard Luna say to Luan; was THE perfect size for any woman.

Lucy can't say for certain if it was the size that leaves her breathless, it could be part of it but she really doesn't know, to her it just perfect, a nice healthy color from what Lucy had to compare and research on her own, slightly curved up and oh so thick, unable to wrap a hand around his length, Lucy just loves his dick.

As she took hold of it in one hand she could feel his pulsing heartbeat and with every twitch, the tip of Lincoln's erection trickled a bit of his clear fluid. Lucy's breath became more uneven when said fluid made contact with her hand and burned slightly, she paused as her grip weakened, she was still, lost in her own world when the smell made its way to her nose.

Her lips parted and her breathing got harder and harder until Lincoln's voice snapped her out of it.

"Sooo, you gonna get to work any time soon? I know it's been a while and yes it's pretty damn intimidating, but it's nothing you haven't seen before, Luce." Lincoln joked, patting himself on the back.

"It hasn't been that long." Lucy mutters to herself, it's been a couple of months since the two had any sexual contact with one another. In between traveling to the border, _the problem_ with their last attempt and their lack of contraceptives on hand, there really wasn't a good time to relieve any tension but Lucy knows it's been harder on Lincoln.

He's had actual experience, has desires that could be felt and has been very patient with Lucy, settling for her hands and mouth, he's not only had to hold back while gently easing Lucy into this adult world but she could feel his pent up urges creeping up on him all the while Lucy keeps teasing him, but now, NOW Lucy can finally give him what he needs. _Release_.

Lucy leans over and her face mere inches away from Lincoln's leaking tool, '_Let's see how long you last_.'

She gently blows on the tip, watching him twitch as more precum seeps onto her hand, lubing the both of them. Lucy decides to torture Lincoln by slowly pumping his dick while making eye contact, his face had a mix of anguish, submission and hated for Lucy right now, that look told her all she needed to know, _She's in charge_. Lucy picked up the pace as Lincoln oozed more of his juice in and on her hand; coating his length and burning her.

"Well, someone's eager. I really want to pay you back for your teasing but out of the kindness of my cold heart, tell me what it is you desire and it shall be done, my love. Tell me, ask me, _beg_ me and you shall find release." She says with a small smile as she gives Lincoln the slowest handjob he's ever had, painfully slow, he keeps leaking but there is no eruption.

"Lucy…" He paused with a shudder, "Just get on with it!" He snaps at her, trying not to lose himself and not wanting to give in to her.

"That almost sounded like a command and I could've sworn you just said 'I've had enough for tonight, you can stop now Lucy', is that what you want?" She asked as she stopped her hand altogether.

"NO! I- uh, *****sigh*****, please Lucy give me release." He said in a low voice and Lucy wants to hear him say it with more enthusiasm, she could feel herself heating up as her womanhood dripped with anticipation.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" She asked before she moved her hand again, making Lincoln squirm just to her liking, "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to use your mouth, please get me off." He said in a more desperate, gasping tone as his grip on the bed sheets tightened, he was probably tearing them but neither cared for it now.

'_That's all I needed to hear, now for your prize, my dear heart_.' Lucy smirked as she pushed back her hair behind her neck.

Lucy leaned forward with her tongue out and gave Lincoln's shaft a nice, long, wet lick from the base to the tip as more precum flooded. A slight salty and bitter taste, perfect for her gothic pallet and a flavor she learned to enjoy. Lucy gave long licks over all the sides followed by smaller shorter licks at the tip, she didn't forget to pump her hand up and down with a firmer grip and a quickened pace.

Lincoln's breath was getting harder and harder to Lucy's joy, she decided to end it quicker.

She halted her hand's movement and hovered over his dick, Lucy gave his tip a kiss and then she parted those lips of hers and slid his cock in her mouth, the sheer girth of Lincoln filled her mouth almost instantly and she wasn't even halfway down.

Lincoln clenched his eyes, he was about to explode but held off, he wanted to at least enjoy Lucy's blowjob, so much he may have 'accidentally' ;) forgotten to give her a warning.

Lucy bobbed her head, sucking on his dick like it was her favorite treat, which it kind of was; taste wasn't bad and making Lincoln squirm from her touch makes her want to do this for him often. She could feel his shaft twitch and topped herself by jerking him with one hand and fondling his balls with the other, rolling them in her hand and giving a nice squeeze.

"Ughhhh!" This put Lincoln over the edge, his hips pushed up, shoving more of his dick into Lucy's mouth as a geyser of his seed flooded her cheeks. Her eyes widened as continuous gushes of semen rushed into her mouth but this wasn't her first time. She swallowed as much as she could in one gulp as she kept pumping his shaft not wanting to give up, she bobbed faster and sucked harder as one more wave of cum burst forth, her mouth filling quicker than she could swallow and Lucy begrudgingly pulled herself from his length as his hot seed splashed onto her face and boobs.

The heat made her jump at first but realizing she still had cum in her mouth made her tilt her head back and swallow in a few small gulps. Lucy panted, having to do that so fast made her heart jump and that large volume that Lincoln let out was definitely more than normal, '_I haven't felt that much come out since the first time_.' She thought as she noticed a rapidly cooling liquid making its way down her belly, there was still semen left on her body, Lucy thought for a moment and made a move.

With her **TK** powers, Lucy lifted every drop of Lincoln's seed from her face, chest and stomach, and guided it to her mouth like a milky river. she drank it all making a show of it for her love. Lucy licked her lips as her eyes traveled to Lincoln and widened in surprise when she saw he was still hard as a rock. Sure it usually took him less than a minute to come back for more but he hadn't even gone down. Fucking super stamina, he wasn't even winded or visibly exhausted in any way, if anything he was more relaxed after having that first round taken care of, a warm up if you will.

Lucy knew she had her work cut out for her, one massage and a little push with her powers were the spark that set the forest ablaze and the fire needed to be put out fast.

Not wanting to play games anymore, Lucy got onto the floor by the bed and sat on her knees as Lincoln sat on the edge in front of Lucy, then she parted his legs and went back down of his dick.

She kept a good pace but not being able to get the entire thing in her mouth made her question how some other girls were able to (because she was the creep who watched). Lucy bobbed as fast as she could but that only tired her out after a minute, she pulled of his tip with a loud, *****POP***** as she straightened herself up and leaned her large chest over his phallus. She swished her mouth around as liquid could be heard moving about.

Lucy opened her mouth and let her drool glide onto his shaft and her boobs, then she pressed her warm pillows on Lincoln's length from both sides and slowly moved her chest up and down.

Lincoln could only describe the sensation as heavenly. she's done this before, many times even, but he could never get over it, the warm, snug-not-tight feeling, fluffy and springy like a marshmallow smothering his penis.

Lucy continues to put pressure on her boobs and moves faster. As she moved an idea sparked and in between her motions she leaned over and gave the tip a kiss, then a lick and took it into her mouth and let go with a mighty *****POP***** Lucy could feel it, it wouldn't be long now.

In truth she could've just moved on to the _main event_ but seeing him not even making an effort to recover from his first release, she knew it's been a while and a quick first release was to be expected and she did not mind getting him off a second time, she just wanted her work to show merit.

Using her boobs and mouth was exhausting, she needed to lift herself off of him and left out a breath, she panted but then she heard Lincoln chuckling; as if he was laughing at her, this made her double her efforts and went back to work.

As much as Lucy wanted to do this for him, her loins were burning something fierce, an itch that needed scratching.

As if sensing her thoughts, Lincoln lifted himself away from Lucy and pulled her up, he lifted her like she weighed less than a feather and in a quick maneuver he laid himself on the bed with his junk in her face and her crotch hovering over his; most commonly referred to the 69 position.

Lucy took a moment to assess what had happened and had found this placement to her liking, she happily went back to attending Lincoln's burning erection as she felt fingers spreading her walls.

Lincoln was exploring Lucy's core, sliding in a pair of fingers while feeling her shudder and squirm, he casually hooks a free arm around her thigh to grabs her butt, keeping her in place. He pulls out his fingers and slips in his tongue, doing what he had done before.

Lucy pauses, Lincoln was working his magic and wasn't letting up, she could barely keep herself together long enough to have a rational thought it was that intense, '_Two can play that game, how about this_.' Lucy thought as she smothered his dick with her boobs again and moved, she feels him pause and smirks, while pumping his length she leans over and pops he tip in her mouth and swirls her tongue.

She feels him twitching and knows he's close.

Lincoln refuses to be outdone, he spreads her butt and with a thumb, pokes at her backdoor, Lucy instantly clenches and yelps, that left her open, Lincoln _chills_ his mouth, darts his freezing tongue past her folds as far as it can go and moves about.

Lucy rocks back and forth while letting out whine through her clenched teeth. Lincoln teasing and prodding her asshole was not something she prepared for, nor can't stop herself from moving around and the shock from his cold tongue had pushed her far.

Lincoln heated his tongue again flicked it around Lucy's walls.

"Uhnn!" Lucy moans happily as she feels a bigger climax building up and does what she can on Lincoln, without much thought she shoves her mouth over his burning erection, as far as she can go, about half way down and bobs her head as fast as she can.

"Guh!" Lincoln let out a low growl as he was about to burst in Lucy's mouth again. In response he rears his hand back and gives her round butt a fierce smack, Lucy moaned on his cock but refused to let go.

With his free hand Lincoln pulled on her clit sending Lucy into a frenzy, her lower body shook, swayed and rocked all over as a clear liquid sprayed into Lincoln's open mouth, her back arched as she sat up. A throaty growl made its way passed her gritted teeth as her eyes rolled as far back as they could as she slightly blacked out.

On instinct or maybe consciously while in her euphoric high, Lucy kept jerking Lincoln's hard on until she felt a very hot sensation gush on her chest. As she came to, Lucy realized she hadn't let go of Lincoln's penis and looked back to see him breathing hard, Lucy enjoying the vindicating sense of accomplishment only to feel his erection spring back up even harder and hotter than before.

She was dumbfounded until the rapidly chilling ooze that was her lover's seed covering her had snapped her out of her bleary thoughts and knew it was time to stop stalling. With her **TK** powers she scooped up the remainder of Lincoln's seed off of her and slurped it up just like before. She sat lain back on the bed and with a smile and a hand gesture that said 'come here' she was all set.

Lincoln crawled over on top of Lucy, leaned over and kissed her neck, gave a little nip and heard her shriek in the tickling impact of his lips before her eyes widen.

"Wait!" She called out, with her powers she pulled out a box of condoms making Lincoln's eyes harden then widen as he asked her a very important question.

"Are you sure?" Of course he's been waiting to do this too but he knew there were some 'hang ups' right now.

Lucy nods, "I NEED this, no more waiting." She said with confidence and Lincoln could feel it too.

Lincoln takes the box and carefully slips on a rubber.

Lucy watches with enthusiasm but her thighs clamped together. Lincoln was ready and looked down on her legs, he pulled them up by the knees to her chest and spread them apart, Lucy couldn't look him in the eyes and turned her face but a hand tilted it back to look at Lincoln.

He captured Lucy's lips with his own as their bodies pressed together, Lucy closed her eyes and thought of Lincoln… but then she heard a giggle, a horrible voice she recognized.

Her eyes snapped open and on top of her wasn't Lincoln it was a man who looked nothing like her love, he had dark hair, cold lifeless eyes that held no warmth in them, his chest covered in tattoos but worst of all she could feel his member pressing against her walls about to penetrate her _again_.

Lucy screamed and pushed him off and crawled away.

The man stood and began walking towards her as she raised a hand and her neon-blue eyes gleamed with hatred, the intruder tried to resist and stood his ground but was sent flying into a wall as he let out a painful wheeze.

Suddenly Lucy could hear a different sound made by the voice she recognized as Lincoln's, she blinked and the intruder she had restrained turned into Lincoln.

With her eyes wide with guilt and shock, she released him. As he fell back onto the bed on his knees, Lincoln took a moment to regain his breathing.

**XxX{Lemon Over}XxX**

Mission failed, we'll get 'em next time

Lincoln stood up and walked off of the bed and saw Lucy.

Tears spilling from her eyes as she quietly wept. Any irritation or pain he may have felt disappeared the moment her saw her vulnerable and clearly shaken.

He reached over to her before she pulled but, soundlessly mouthing, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry' over and over again.

It pained Lincoln more so to see Lucy like this, he made his way to her as she backed herself into a corner and tried to push him away with her **TK** but her hand was snatched by Lincoln's own and pulled into a warm and placating embrace.

She tried to push him off and then resist but found herself hiccupping, gasping and bawling over his shoulder.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln and Lucy are both facing each other on opposing bedsides, moderately decent in their underwear as Lucy was petting a purring Salem on her lap.

Lincoln stares on in sympathy while Lucy would rather look elsewhere than his gaze, his warm, inviting, understanding and accepting eyes.

She knows he won't judge but can't bring herself to begin.

He starts, "We don't have to talk about this if you don't want to but you know I'll listen whenever you need me right?" He asks as she finally looks at him.

"Sigh, I know, it's one of the best things about you and I love you for that. I just don't know what came over me, *****"I think you do"***** … yes, but I thought I was ready, I really wanted to be ready but the reality is I'm broken and there is no fixing me."

This struck something inside of Lincoln, "Please don't say that, Luce." He spoke in more of a whisper.

"But it's true, I'm… damaged goods." She says as a tear rolls down her face.

"No you're not!" He snaps, startling her, "You are not _Damaged Goods_, you're you, you're hurting and you're healing but it takes time."

"I'm your girlfriend Lincoln, but I can't even make love to you like one's supposed to. Good girlfriends let themselves be vulnerable and express their feelings without restraint but I choke every time I want to feel your skin on mine, I can't even ask for a kiss when I want them.

I can't even _ask_ for sex without using alternate methods and even then I need to make you _feel_ what I _want_ so you can make the moves." She pauses as Lincoln picks up.

"I don't care about that, we don't need to go all the way."

"But _I want_ to, _I care_ about that. You deserve everything after all you've been through." She says in a low tone.

He thinks to himself, '_God, when did the roles reverse, not a whole day and I need to reassure her but that is my duty after all_.' "… Walk me through it, what happened."

Finally Lucy looks up into his eyes and inhales, "I heard her… Selene. And then I saw _HIM_ on top of me when it was supposed to be you."

Lincoln's eyes had briefly flashed with anger when she mentioned that name, _Selene_. The _assumed_ woman in charge of the 'hellfire club' that Lincoln and Lucy were held captive for a short time.

"Lucy, what you're feeling is normal, it's to be expected, no one in your position is supposed to bounce back without some lingering trauma. W- you were… raped, and that's not your fault, none of this is."

Lucy takes a moment think, "But so were you, and even worse, you had to endure it for so long… unlike me." Lincoln turns for a moment, *****"…yes"***** Lucy looks back to him, "You got it even worse, they hurt you and when you tried to fight back, they…" She couldn't finish as she instead looked to his left arm, his regrown arm.

For Lucy the most traumatic experience while in captivity wasn't the act of rape; that lasted but a moment or even just a few seconds. It was the build up to everything before that moment that engraved the events of that day in her mind.

/

When Lucy was horribly 'dumped' by that bastard ex of hers, she woke up to the sounds of moaning and flesh slapping against flesh.

Lucy had been handcuffed to a pipe in some dark room when across from her were five silhouettes.

Going by shape, one male and the rest female as one was riding the young man without control or care for anyone around as she left out a string of profanity that let anyone know they were giving their partner the ride of their life.

The woman she heard was Selene, she was wearing dark leather bondage getup and humping a man with her back facing Lucy.

As Lucy could not see the man covered by Selene she just assumed it was another member.

From the sounds it seemed Selene got a few good loads out of the man before she let up, barely being able to get up without limping or wobbling while fluids just poured out of her.

Lucy had heard, 'We found a good one ladies, just keep him nice and calm, I haven't had a good lay like that in long time, you three can go in a bit, I swear the kid must've dumped a gallon in me but he still hard as steel, we found a nice pet didn't we.' She had a bit of an English accent unlike Luna's cockney-esque British accent.

As Selene let out a giggle that continues to haunt Lucy, she flipped on the switch and after adjusting to the light, Lucy saw it was her brother those women were forcing themselves on, but he didn't look like he was aware of anything; borderline unconscious.

His genitals looked red, from excessive chaffing and repeated usage. He simply looked out of it, over the course of days Lucy and Lincoln would learn the powers of all four.

Selene, middle-aged and long, dark wavy hair had the ability to drain someone of power and will; pulling visible energy from her victim, the next three looked like one another, all young, had blonde hair but each of varying lengths; one long, one short and one neck-length.

In terms of powers each were of the esper class, one was telekinetic, one gave telepathic commands and one wielded psionic energy, that they used to make constructs (this one Lincoln and Lucy both hated the most).

It was creepy how well they resembled each other and talked in near robotic-synchrony like the Stepford wives in a sense.

Shocked by what she had seen, Lucy couldn't get words out as Selene approached, swaying hips and thighs that glistened with her brothers seed and sweat while Selene constantly scooped some in her latex gloved hand and lapped it up.

Lucy doesn't quite remember what she had told her but all she knows is that she couldn't take her eyes off of her brother being used and played with, the three look-a-likes playfully fighting with one another to see who got a trip to pound-town. It was sickening to Lucy, a then 13 year old watching her brother being preyed upon by these _women_ if they could even be called that.

In between each having a turn on Lincoln and Selene draining the two of power, stamina and the will to go one then proceed to beat Lincoln with whips or really anything they could make to degrade him. In those days, more people came, a few women and a couple of men, each ready to join in the action, _watching_ is what Lucy had endured for almost two days.

One day she had noticed the light in Lincoln's eyes return as one of the Stepfords were riding him like no tomorrow and then he smashed his head on her face, breaking her nose and forcing blood to rush out.

The other three did not like this and began a full day of 'play' in Selene's words as they found… inventive ways to torture Lincoln, including nailing him with stakes, repeatedly stabbing him with psionic blades to test the limits of his healing until he was full of holes and… sawing off his arm with a rusty blade.

Lucy had a front row seat to that and then it happened.

They brought in a man and let him loose at Lucy, after a vicious beating, she was stripped and held down by those women as Lincoln was forced to witness her purity stolen in such a violent manner.

In the moment blood rushed from between her legs, Lucy screamed for Lincoln and saw something beautifully heinous. A white shimmering beam of energy burst from his eyes and disintegrated the man into nothing but a puddle ash.

This caught everyone's attention and before anyone could react, Lincoln turned his gaze at each of them killing the Stepfords one by one and subsequently moving onto everyone else. When Selene tried to drain Lincoln, one look from him blasted a hole in her gut and she fell to the floor dead or so they thought. As they would learn in the future she somehow survived and is _still_ out there.

/

But back to the matter at hand, Lucy and Lincoln hadn't said anything, just basking in the ever growing darkness of what seems to be night rolling in.

Then Lucy speaks in a whisper, "How did you get over it?"

Lincoln looks to her, "What?"

"How did you get past it all?" She asks with a forced shout.

"… I didn't… I don't think I ever did." Was his answer.

"B-but, I-I've seen you go and do _stuff_ at those places." Lincoln raised a brow, "Those bordellos…" She leaves it on a lull.

"You can just call it a whorehouse, Luce, you don't need to be polite about it, and YES I went to those kinds of places before."

"That's just what I mean, how did you get past it all to do that?" She asked desperate for an answer.

Lincoln's eyes looked away for a moment before locking eyes with Lucy's, "Lucy, what I'm about to tell you may seem a little _pessimistic_ for me but hear me out." With a nod from her, Lincoln proceeds, "I don't think there is such a thing as getting over trauma… not really. It's the scars that define us, the ones we can see and the ones we can't.

Nothing short of amnesia can ever take away the hurt inside of us all, they… shape us, motivate us, make us hesitate and serve a purpose.

I think trauma is supposed to help us become more of who we are _meant_ to be by taking a little more of who we _were_. Pain does one of two things; it can make us more fragile and prone to weakness, or it can make us stronger over time. But it's up to each of us to determine how pain affects us, whether we'll succumb to it or if we'll learn from it, use it, make it worth surviving through."

Lucy took a moment to let it sink in then asked another question, "Then how did you work up the nerve to visit a brothel so soon after… your… demise?" There was a pause, it had been after his death and 'change in perspective' that Lincoln first visited that kind of establishment.

"… For the longest time, was scared about the whole thing, I was a growing man and even I had those urges but every time I, *****cough*****, tried to take care of it myself, I froze, I _remembered_ and felt so disgusted with myself that I stopped in my tracks.

Then one day I saw you and I figured _we_ were still here, _we_ were still alive and no one was going to take pity on _us_ just because we're scared, I remembered thinking, I still have her to think about and I thought, 'how can I be there for her when I'm so scared of my own thoughts.'

It took longer than I'm going to tell you but I booked a room and bought a girl for the night. You wouldn't think it but the moment she touched me, I freaked out." He paused and Lucy leaned in, "She was older, maybe late twenties, brunette, I really don't know much else about her but she was very patient and told me she _knew_ what was going on. She had seen it so many times in her experience dealing with the other girls, apparently she was a working girl long before all this started, *****"Please tell me you had protection"***** well DUH! The point is she was patient and walked me through it but let me know that we all go at it at our own pace and I had to walk through that door with my own two legs.

We didn't do it that night," Lucy tilted her head in curiosity that almost begged the question 'when', "Over the week we met up, she showed me ways to pleasure a woman, I think I got pretty good at it, *****"I'll say"***** Heh, anyway as much as I want to say she helped me all the way through it, I really couldn't do… _It _with her, I didn't want to rely on her and I needed to do this on my own. I was wounded, I needed to heal and recover the rest of the way by myself."

Lucy leaned forward for more, "And how did you recover?" She knew the answer but wanted to hear it from him.

"I couldn't be afraid to _be_ me and so I pushed on, it was with a younger girl, blonde, I think she was 15 at the time, it wasn't her first time but she told me I made her feel like it was, which was kind of a confidence booster let me tell you." Lincoln told with a smirk, bragging about his big dick as Lucy rolled her eyes. "Anyway, it wasn't long before I tried again with a different girl… and then another and another and another after that, *****"Is there a break between here and the point"***** let me finish, every now and again, I sort of remember what happened with _them_, sometimes I hear their laughter, I might see them for a second or even dream about them, the point is: There is no getting past trauma, there's just moving on with your life and going at it at your own pace."

Lucy thought to herself, "But what if we never-" She didn't get to finish, she didn't even realize he made his way to her and took her lips into his own. She melted into his warm, soft lips and as he pulled away, she tried to lean back into another only for his voice to reach her.

"Then it doesn't matter, there is more to life than sex and I think we can manage just fine like this. Make no mistake Lucy, what those _animals_ did to us was not our fault, not yours, not mine and not even HD, they were screwed up on their own and we got out of it. We survived them and we'll survive this, don't think on it anymore.

It's okay to hurt, Luce, to know we _were_ broken but now we're putting ourselves back together and we'll be better for it. Night Lucy." With that he pecked her forehead and climbed into his bed.

Lucy laid in her own with her feline companion and sighed, '_It may be alright with you but NOT me, we will find a solution to this Lincoln this I swear. You will be rewarded for your hard work and patience, I will make sure of it_.'

She drifted into sleep while Lincoln was awake, just thinking, waiting and planning for their remaining time in Smallville.

**END**

* * *

**[So while I had the time to re-read what I wrote I went back and edited a few chapters, nothing major, just took out a few things that didn't belong or wouldn't matter. ****I'm currently writing the next chapter while re-writing the outlines to future plots now that I'm making this into a full on crossover]**

**[Sorry for the fake out lemon, but for anyone who cares (to which I hope some of you do) there will be real lemons in the future and with characters other than Lincoln and Lucy to that I promise, other than that I'm hoping to move the plot forward so I can get to the Loud Family next]**

**[Also thinking about posting a few different opening chapters to my other fanfics to get some views and reviews, currently debating weather or not to post the smut, PWP or my legit serious stories]**


	9. Chapter 8

**[Huh, I cut down half the content I had planned and I still had a lot left. This being a slow gives me plenty of time to set up, but I get the feeling it's kind of boring, hopefully I can move on to a different section soon. The other parts I have planned have a more bigger cast than just the loud sisters]**

**[Disclaimer: I don't own the Loud House or anything really, just this fanfiction]**

Posted 5/18/20

* * *

-Chapter 8-

Since she was a little hell spawn, Lucy has always believed in a world of black and white; right is right and wrong is wrong, truth was truth and lies were lies.

An undeniable fact she always championed was that if there was any truth in this life, it's that death is absolute, it was fair, unavoidable and inevitably THE END. That is until Lincoln came back from the dead.

It's a day she'd rather not remember. Early on at the age of 14, Lucy has witnessed Lincoln kill, maim and destroy lives, in self-defense and out of the wickedness in his heart for his enemies, she's seen him do horrible things, that is no lie. So it really wasn't a surprise when a bunch of his victims had banded together to kill him.

In a small town back in Nevada (because that's where **a lot** of things happened) Lincoln and Lucy had been tending to a bunch of kids after killing a so-called 'warlord'.

Even before their encounter with the hellfire club, Lincoln still tried to help children. Perhaps it was around that time that she imagined a future with her raising kids alongside… Lincoln for some reason.

A group of people made their way into town and Lucy found herself in an abandoned building after following the sounds of children crying but a needle was stuck into her neck.

Lucy was taken hostage, drugged and held at gunpoint as Lincoln was forced to stay his hand and let his enemies tear into him. He tried to fight back but a bullet at pointblank range pierced her lower body, Lincoln tried to go to her but when the gun was raised to her head he knew to keep still and silent.

A group of twenty-something (by Lincoln's retelling) people and mutants had beaten him, cut into him, and even disemboweled him but he was still breathing. If not for the kids the two helped, making their way to save Lucy with a Lincoln clone, they may not have made it.

With Lucy free and away, Lincoln used every last fiber of his being to kill his tormentors and bring down the building around him but as luck would have it, it was the start of a very unfortunate encounter with the blob monster.

The gelatinous skin sack with varying limbs had somehow found the two at such a terrible time and with a squadron of DUP leveling the town, when everybody met up it was Armageddon, a real free for all.

To surmise, Lincoln and the blob killed the DUP agents as they tried to take each other out with Lincoln driving it away but not with cost. Before it fled, the blob sought to strike and kill Lucy, for food maybe but Lincoln took the hits, tendrils drilling their way into Lincoln's chest no doubted shredding his heart from the looks of holes in his chest.

After sending a destructive force of shimmering white light onto the beast Lincoln fell and died while Lucy and the children were doing their best to save him.

Lucy wanted to be left alone and with his corpse she threw out all of her grief, how much she hated him, how much pain he caused, the reality that she couldn't live without him and how much she loves him.

He was buried in that town behind an old church and made a silent prayer which was ironic considering at the time she was the furthest thing to a woman of faith. After everything she'd seen, Lucy had all but renounced any form of worship, but for the sake of her brother, she made a prayer for his soul to find rest and redemption in the afterlife.

After the funeral, Lucy couldn't find it in her heart to leave Lincoln and by the morning of the next day he rose from the grave. It certainly made a believer out of her, thanking all the wondrous spirits that looked over them especially her great-great grandmother Harriet.

Lincoln was dead for sure, no two ways about it and though she _knows_ it was his mutant powers, she can't seem to shake that something _grander_ was at play.

From that moment, the one _truth_ she's always known, death being an absolute was suddenly subjective in Lincoln's case.

Lucy questioned many things from then on, Life, Lincoln, herself and even the afterlife but leaving faith and miracles aside, Lucy began to look inward for happiness now having Lincoln back and seeing him trying to move on with his life.

Lucy watched Lincoln fool around in those brothels and figured she should move on too.

At age 15, she was a real beauty, even with her hair covering half her face, she was sought after but she could never really look at guys the same after what happened to her.

It was at this point that Lucy had begun what Lincoln in the future would refer to as her 'sexy phase'; she started seeing girls and making a connection but nothing ever lasted.

Either they were too forward and expected too much or she was too reserved but no one stuck around long.

Then her mind sight came around and she started following everyone around, one day she followed Lincoln and the women he was with and watched them and at one point asked herself why that couldn't be her.

That opened up Pandora's box and eventually Lucy came to the conclusion that she might have feelings for Lincoln but questioned if she should act on it, initially she decided no, that was until she saw and 'felt' how great he was.

Lucy started watching Lincoln all the time, he had begun emotional and (mostly) physical relationships with other women, sometimes two or even three at a time for a while but those ended too.

One time she got very curious and tested something, she could feel and understand someone's feelings and for a long time Lucy thought she was limited to just emotions but discovered feelings were more than just mental stimulations.

In the midst of spying on Lincoln having a go at twins, Lucy wanted to know how they felt while Lincoln was inside them. Lucy found out she could simulate the physical sensations someone felt through their sense of touch, she could know what others were feeling (physically).

Vicariously she's known what it felt Like to have Lincoln inside her and those simulated feelings were enough to get her off so many times. The best part of that power was she could relive those feelings any time she wanted and they've comforted to her for a long time.

Until she had enough of pretending to feel, she wanted the real Lincoln. But a thought made its way into Lucy mind, should she pursue Lincoln? It was one thing to read about an incestuous romance in the pages of a novel, it was another to engage in it herself, even if they weren't blood related there had to be something wrong with it.

Then Lucy thought hard on it, she really didn't have a problem with Lincoln, at the very least not with _him_.

She argued with herself for a long time but ultimately knew she wasn't against it, but was Lincoln?

One day she got her chance with a fake date at Lincoln's suggestion but it was the venture Lucy needed, handed to her on a silver platter.

She went all out, remembering a piece of advice from Lori and Leni, 'if you don't want them to see you as _just_ a friend, by the end of the first date, go for the kiss, even if they pull away, they have to know, you're interested and girlfriend material,' and so she did and as expected, he pulled away.

With some time apart Lincoln decided to give it a try and see how it works out, neither have regretted it since.

And now here she was; trying to find a way to make love to her boyfriend but _something_ keeps getting in her way. Morning came as the sun light was any indication, she woke up with a sigh and knew she needed to take care of some _business_ in the shower.

Lucy makes her way to the bathroom to relive tension and get ready for the day.

-**_XxX_**-

-Kent House-

Kara had awoken with her body hovering over her bed with the sheets draped over her… again.

*****Sigh***** "Again, is this ever gonna stop?" She asks herself not expecting an answer.

It wasn't easy dealing with this, a few years back, all Kara needed was to fly around for a bit and burn off this pent up energy inside of her. Now, she knows she needs something more grueling to keep herself in check.

Sometimes she looks out in the distance and just wishes she could take off and drift to her hearts content. Unfortunately there are just too many dangers out there, B.O.W's aside there are people who don't take kindly to mutants and will shoot without thinking twice or so she's been told by drifters.

Her typical routine of floating around her room really wasn't doing it for her these days and it really didn't help that her current environment didn't provide the means of testing the scope of her abilities.

She's never seen her top speed and due to various circumstances, Kara's never really gone high enough to touch the actual clouds.

As she circles her bed she thinks back to when she saw something weird go on with her flying powers or if it really ever was that, when she woke up floating, exorcist style, her bed sheets were hovering over her, not draped on her, actually above her and it didn't look like gravity really had an effect on it.

Any time Kara tries to lift things with her mind, Jedi style, she gets nothing, maybe that's why she's excited to befriend Smallville's newest (temporary) residents.

Kara's met drifters and out of towners but most of them weren't like her and her family, the ones that were, didn't reveal themselves and the ones she knows in town, don't use them much.

There aren't a lot of people her age to begin with, there seems to be a noticeable gap between the early teens and full grown adults. Not too many young adults in Smallville.

Those thoughts ended after she touches the ground. She takes a breath and gains a smile after remembering who's coming over tonight. '_Maybe they could help me with my powers, maybe even figure this out_.'

She wasn't like her sister and cousins.

Karen soaked up sunlight and gets beefy, she'd burn and blast things, and that's about it. Clark was the gentle giant, at least compared to most guys, He is super strong, she's never seen how much he can lift or more specifically what his limit was. He shared similar powers with his brother but Conner was just a brute with a chip on his shoulders, nothing like cousin Clark and nowhere near as strong.

Then Kara remembered, she accidentally let it slip that Lincoln could copy powers, after delivering the new of Lincoln and Lucy's attendance, she was bombarded with question after question, she mindlessly answered her sister's question about Lincoln's powers.

Conner was angry, well he's always angry but then his fragile ego took over and proclaimed that Lincoln really isn't worth anything on his own.

Still, Kara hopes everything goes well, she'd like some new friends for as long as they'll be around. Conner's a brooding dick, Clark doesn't share any of her interests or really have much in common with her and finally her big sister is the overprotective, snarky, flirty type who has people her own age to hang out with.

With that, Kara gets ready for the day.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln has been getting antsy; he usually has a routine wherever he settles down for any extended period of time. Nothing too complicated; a decent workout including free running and sparring if he could find the people for it, he'd settle for just one _copy_ but now things are complicated with Kara in the _know_.

He needed to burn some energy to take the edge off, using every boy's first partner after last night's failure did nothing for him. He really doesn't want to put anything on Lucy but she's been testing his limits. There have been times when he'd fantasize about taking her on the spot whenever she flashed him the goods, the things he'd do to her, do for her.

While Lucy showers, Lincoln takes the time to meditate and clear his thoughts and plan the day. He knows there is that dinner date with the Kents but it was morning and there was a lot that could be done and then he gets an idea as soon as he sees Lucy exit the bathroom.

They don't have that awkward, morning after, rom-com troupe where they avoid eye-contact, they can put their problems aside or at least pretend nothing's wrong and take it one day at a time.

"Lucy, we're going to the library, it's time we got you caught up on your studies." He told his pale lover.

She stares on for a moment before speaking, "Sigh, do we have to?"

"Yup, we don't always land in a decent town with books; not just a few skin mags, the occasional bible or useless tech manuals, I mean books to learn from."

It was fortunate that due to Lisa's tutoring, Lincoln was more than a few years above his level in high school. She had educated him in multiple branches of science, including but not limited to practical and theoretical physics, chemistry, biology (mostly human anatomy), medicinal sciences, a great deal of math, astrology etc.

Lincoln is in no way a true expert in those fields but he knows enough to get by and most of it has come in handy.

He could keep up with the lectures Lisa gives to college students but Lucy didn't have that, she was barely in 6th grade when the walls came up and it was rare that the two happened upon the correct learning materials for Lincoln to teach Lucy what he could.

Lincoln has gotten his hands on whatever he could to learn and keep his mind sharp, some outpost camps had educators and Lincoln's been learning at an astonishing rate, maybe another mutant thing as suggested by Lucy.

Lucy spoke again, "Couldn't we just relax for the day."

"C'mon Luce, you know what Luan used to say, 'Lose your smarts and blondes will be making jokes about you,' besides, I wanna see what they have, I've been wanting to get back into calculus, it really helps with my aim and well, other stuff too."

"Sigh, very well." Lucy admits defeat as the three set off.

-**_XxX_**-

Back home in Michigan, Lincoln wouldn't be caught at a library, not while he had Lisa, the internet or you know a social life, but times have changed and the sight of a building filled with so many books nearly had Lincoln tears.

It has been too long since Lincoln could indulge on reading material.

Lucy looks over to Lincoln after feeling an overwhelming sense of _excitement_ and _joy_.

"Lincoln, are you alright- Are you crying?" She asks seeing tears welling up through the gap in his shades.

Lincoln turns and wipes his eyes, "What… no, it's just some just some dust from these old books *****"you're wearing sunglasses"***** c'mon, I know we left off in trigonometry, finished up US history. I think by the time we're ready to leave we'll have finished high school."

Lucy smile for a moment, "And we'll finally be done with this?" She asks hopefully.

*****Snrkt***** "Nope!"

"W-What!" She gasps.

"What, you just want to settle for _high school_, I thought you'd wanna tackle _college_ next." Lincoln spoke with a devilish grin as Lucy frowned.

"… Sigh, may the sweet embrace of death take hold of me now, for if the future is as bleak as you have deemed, I need not go on, I've lived an eventful life, not long but filled with treasured memories." She delivers with clear distain in her voice.

*****Sigh***** "Fine, I guess after 'high school', we can take a hiatus and pick things back up at _home_."

Lucy's frown inverts, "And like that, you have saved me once again, my white knight. Let's get started."

Lincoln sighs as they both look around to see, Slade's special-forces running the place, a few people, possibly the librarian, her employees or whoever is left to man it.

~X~

On a table sat Lincoln, Lucy and a big stack of books.

With helpful advisory from the head librarian, Lincoln got a heaping stack of textbooks, and really anything he thought he needed, Lucy was understandably upset until she realized they were mostly for him.

She couldn't care less what they were but got the impression that they were more advanced than what she was working on, by leagues. They reminded her of what Lisa would have in her room to pass the time. The book Lincoln was currently reading had a title that Lucy didn't even want to attempt to pronounce, the only thing she could read was 'math' and even then it was in the middle of a long word.

She glances at Lincoln's uncovered eyes and saw them look left to right at a rapid pace, if she didn't know better, she'd say he wasn't even reading but no, Lincoln can just tear through a book that fast.

"Can you really read that, Lincoln?" She asks partly out of curiosity and maybe to procrastinate.

Lincoln shrugs, "More or less, some parts are easier than others, can make sense out of most of it but some of it goes over my head, really makes me wish I had Lisa right now."

"Sigh, why torture yourself by trying to teach yourself, I'm sure you would be forgiven for not wanting to obtain knowledge you cannot grasp on your own." Lucy reasons.

"I spent a lot of time _just_ surviving and fighting, when we get back home, I don't want to be known as 'the big dumb savage' or hindered by a high school level education- Correction, **un**finished high school level education."

Lucy retorts, "You and I both know with what Lisa has filled your head with, you could never just be a 'savage' you are more intelligent than most people of average brain function as Lisa would put it. Your willingness to put in the time to learn is proof enough but still, I suppose you are right, a bright mind is a necessity for when we are liberated from this _cage_."

It was then the head librarian, an elderly woman with white hair done in a bun, with thick glasses and a simple cream colored dress, approached Lincoln and Lucy.

"Excuse me, dearies but I couldn't help but overhear, did you say you both hadn't finished school?" She asks as Lincoln hesitantly answers.

"Well, uh… yes, Ma'am. Before all of this happened, we were still in school."

The woman looked solemn before opening her mouth. "I heard about the two of you from the Lieutenant, I also heard you'd be with us for some time but to think you were just children when _they_ attacked.

It breaks my heart knowing there were so many children just as young as the two of you… left alone, forced to grow up, not even to finish school.

Things have been quiet here for years, I've worked here for 40 years and I know the worst things kids your age had to worry about were exams, getting _away_ from school and looking for that special someone in their lives, hehe.

*****Sigh***** Now, all the kids are thinking about is what's outside of town, like that sweet boy, Conner."

That grabbed Lincoln and Lucy's attention for a moment, "I know people are fed up with his attitude but let me tell you, he was just the sweetest, like his brother, they used to come in together when Clark was still in school, the boy liked reading and was just adorable. His brother worked here a short time, Jonathan raised a gentleman, helped around, tidy things up and helped his brother with homework.

Those were simple times, Clark still comes in but Conner… growing up with all this negativity and everyone wondering if or _when_ trouble will find its way to us-

OH, forgive me, I was just rambling, I almost forgot why I came here, I'm sure I can pull a few strings with the teachers here and maybe help the two of you catch up." She offered as Lincoln spoke again.

"That… is a very generous offer ma'am but we won't even be here that long-" He's cutoff as the librarian speaks again.

"Oh nonsense. All children should be entitled to an education, the mind is a very terrible thing to waste and seeing what you're reading, I'm sure some of the teachers would appreciate your work ethic, not even in school and you're still trying to learn, that's more than I can say for most of the kids here.

Just give it some thought, alright." She finishes at Lincoln looks to Lucy.

"We'll think about it." Lincoln says as the woman smiles.

"That's all I can ask." And so she leaves, letting Lincoln tutor Lucy in peace.

-**_XxX_**-

A few hours later, the two exit the Library on their way to the diner for Lunch when Lucy had a thought.

"Lincoln, do you think we should bring something for Kara and her family?"

"Like what?" Lincoln responded.

"I don't know, it just seems like something people do when they're invited over for dinner."

"Yeah, that sounds like something we'd do back home, so, got any ideas, I'm all ears."

"…Dinner rolls?" Lucy started.

"Everyone makes those for dinner, besides, those are too simple."

"Sigh, a casserole?"

"Too suburban, not our style." He shot her down without a second thought.

"Maybe something dad used to make, like his mac and cheese bites?"

Lincoln thinks for a moment, "Nah, that's too good for them on the _first_ dinner-date, maybe in the future, plus limited cooking station." Just one electric stove does not make a fully furnished kitchen.

"Sigh, then how about a dessert, you're good with those."

Lincoln thinks as they've made it to the diner.

"That might work if we had a real kitchen to work with- You know what, were getting lunch here, maybe we can work something out, ~ooh but what to make~?"

"How about those slutty chocolate cheesecake bars, I remember being put into a sugary coma with those back home." She said, fondly remembering the experience.

"Well yeah, you had like a whole tray, ahh slutty bars, _if you feel an itch, get tested, it's probably not diabetes_, Luan ruined that dinner but fuck me, it had me rolling. On second thought not this time, but I might have just the thing, guaranteed to make a good impression."

Lucy's eyes lit with excitement for sweets, "And what is it?"

Lincoln's lips curled into a wicked grin, "Oh you'll see." He chuckled a little as Lucy pouted.

~X~

After Lunch, Lincoln and Lucy decide to split up, Lincoln to prepare the dessert and Lucy wanted to see how her dresses were coming along.

-**Lincoln**-

He had asked a favor from the owner and with a cash bribe, he had free reign for the next few hours.

Lincoln had taken inventory and saw they surprisingly had exactly what he needed, '_The benefits of being so close to the border, although that may not be the case for a while if what Slade said was true but never mind that, Let's make a Lynn-sagna: dessert style_'.

-**Lucy**-

Lucy had been surprised to say the least, two dresses already done.

Having Leni as a benchmark, Lucy knows making a dress isn't easy but can be done quickly and given that the husband and wife pair made clothing, it would make sense that the two of them together could make their jobs easier.

She had been told that not having many customers gave the tailor and seamstress more than enough time to get her orders ready on short notice.

Right now, Lucy was admiring herself in one of her new outfits, a bit snug in the chest but it worked for her, '_Will Lincoln love this_?' She thought as she remembered last night and frowned before taking a breath.

-**_XxX_**-

Lucy and Salem were in the motel waiting on Lincoln. Salem was scarfing down on some chicken and Lucy, in a towel was deciding which dress to wear when suddenly the door opened and out came Lincoln.

Lucy saw Lincoln walk in with two serving dishes that were covered giving no visual cues as to what was inside but she could smell it. They were just so tempting, she had to ask.

"~Lincoln!~ If I ma-" She was interrupted by Lincoln.

"Nope! You'll see what it is when the time comes and that time is-"

He is stopped in his tracks as Lucy drops the towel covering her nude form, she slowly saunters over and a swing of her hips in each step, "Now." She stated, Lincoln is frozen, unable to take his eyes of her, not even caring that the dishes were lifted from his hands and brought over to her as the tops were lifted and Lucy gasped.

She could smell the toasted coconut, the pudding and fresh cream mixed together and layered on top of each other, chocolate and caramel sauce drizzled and coating the delicious bounty.

She knew what she was looking at. Layers upon layers of sweets, truth be told, Lucy doesn't always knows what's in it until she tries it, 'Lincoln's Dessert Lynn-sagna' and she couldn't wait to get a taste.

Though not having been known for having a sweet tooth, Lucy, like her sisters is a raging choco-holic and secretly more so a choco-fiend, as coined by Lincoln. She's come to worship Lincoln's culinary crafting techniques for anything sweet and caked in chocolate, she would not be denied.

Lucy slowly dipped her finger into the dessert or she would have had a hand not stopped her.

Lucy looked back at the monster who dared to keep her from her confectionary goodness, Lucy turned to Lincoln, lips quivering and dainty arms looped around his neck and stood on the tips of her toes.

*****Sigh***** "No, Lucy. You can't sample the goods, I know you won't stop with one bite."

She tilted her head and looked down to see a bulge and smirked.

"Well, I'm sure we can work something out, I can get a treat and then _you_ can get a _treat_, ~would that not be an even trade, dear heart?~" She purred that last bit as Lincoln tried to remain strong.

"A-are you whoring yourself out for snacks Luce?" Lincoln gasped. "Is that what we've come to now?"

"I like to think of it as 'quid pro quo', no need to argue, just do what _feels_ right and then you can help me choose what to wear." Lucy said now starting to leave a trail of kisses on his neck traveling downward.

Lincoln swallows a lump in his throat.

"No! I won't give in, vile temptress, you cannot break me." He says as Lucy unhooks her arms and begins walking away.

Lucy slowly struts back to her towel, giving Lincoln a show with her firm, shifting cheeks, "Oh but Lincoln, you know I _only_ speak the truth, I can certainly _deliver_ on my promises, especially when your treats provide the _incentive_." She accentuates the word 'incentive' as she bends over to retrieve her fallen fabric, exposing herself to Lincoln and then walks onward without looking back. But she _knows_.

'_Very well, Lincoln, I can be patient but I guarantee it'll be torture for you, my love. It appears you must be taught, never to come between me and my desires_.' She though as she was overcome by an extreme feeling of desire and a need for release. She smirks.

-**_XxX_**-

*****Clack Clack Clack***** were the sounds of flat heels making contact with pavement as Lincoln and Lucy made their way through town on route to the Kent farm.

Lincoln was carrying the serving dishes and Lucy was carrying Salem.

Lucy was as happy as she could be, _on the inside_, she's caught Lincoln's gaze more than a few times, every step she took, her heavy chest bounced and she was happy that her silver haired lover was taking it all in.

On their way through town, many people had stopped to look back at the two, with a mixture of curiosity, enticement and a touch of fear mixed with unease. The two looked great, it's not every day they get to dress nicely and visit… friends for dinner.

Lincoln's hair looked neat except for a loose cowlick he just can't tame, almost resembling a shonen protagonist with the way his bangs reach his eyes but never cover them.

A clean black dress shirt with the sleeves done up and the top buttons undone to reveal soft orange shirt underneath. The pants he wore were equally as dark as his shirt and in rare form, _shoes_, bought from the boutique at the last minute but matching all the same.

The sunglasses were a turnoff with all the aforementioned black clothes, it was too wannabe secret agent-y but he'd remove them when he reached his destination.

A few ladies whistled and called out to Lincoln as he only waved but they immediately felt a chill and backed off at the sight of an angry Lucy, meanwhile the men couldn't take their eyes off of her, super spooky and ominous but at the same time very alluring and her outfit made it hard not to want to admire her figure.

Lucy's long black hair swayed with her movements as they covered her eyes, like they have for most of her life, with strands that draped over her shoulders. Black nail polish that seemed to drain light and left a dull sheen, upon her lips were something akin to pink lip gloss that brought out the fullness of her lips.

The eye-catch, her new dress, from her shoulders to her wrists is a dark lacy fabric that hugged her arms. Starting at her bust and ending below her knees was a black, form-fitting dress, it caressed and brought out her curves, those womanly curves that couldn't help but capture the attention of unsuspecting men that were driven away as soon as Lincoln turned to them. Bellow the dress were her exposed legs that were garbed in the same dark lacy fabric that adorned her arms but as stockings and on her feet were simple black shoes.

The trio made their way in relative silence, only the sound of Lucy's shoes could be hear as they've left the town and made their way onto the dirt road.

It was then that Lucy decided to Levitate a foot off the ground as Lincoln broke into a light jog, of about 40 mph with Lucy keeping up just fine.

-**_XxX_**-

-Kent House-

"Ugh, how could I be so stupid!" Kara yelled at herself, fresh out of the shower, hair still wet, only in her t-shirt and jeans.

She had forgotten to tell the Loud duo that she would pick them up. Honestly were they expected to walk all the way to the farm no complains, just for dinner with the family?

She had raced down the steps just as she was stopped by her cousin, Clark.

"Woah, slow down. I'll go get them, by the time we're back, Ma should be done and then we can eat." Clark reasoned, always trying to be the responsible big brother type.

"B-but, **I** messed up, I should've be the one to get them, I completely spaced out on this, and I was pushing to get them here in the first place." Kara argued.

"You're not even ready and I'm sure they aren't either, dinner's going to be a bit late and this is probably new for them too, not everything's going to be perfect, so just relax an-"

*****Knock Knock Knock***** The sound came from the door, maybe one of the soldiers coming by, Conner gets the door just as angsty and inelegant as always.

He opens the door to see both the object of his (current) anger and the object of his desire as of late.

He didn't want to admit it but they both looked great if oddly dark in their current fashion.

But before he could say anything, Lincoln spoke up.

"Connie, good to see you, how is everyo-" ***SLAM***

Lincoln chuckled and turned to Lucy, "Was it something I said?" He asked in mock ignorance as he removed his shades.

"Sigh, honestly Lincoln, why do you antagonize him so, I'm becoming fed up with the routine." Lucy deadpans.

"Honestly, he makes it too easy, besides, I'm never a dick to people who aren't one, first." He replies.

Lincoln knocks on the door again and waits a bit before, it opens again to reveal Kara's older sister, '_Shit, what was her name again_?'

She wore something similar to when Lincoln and Lucy met the family, a tight shirt, light jacket and jeans.

_Karen_ took a good look at Lincoln. Now that she had a second chance to give him the once over, she could admit he was handsome _and_ tall, taller than her, that's not common around these parts. Her eyes narrow slightly as a grin is plastered across her face.

"~Well hello there, handsome~. Don't you clean up well?" Her eyes locked onto his and she was mesmerized, those burning golden orbs that radiated power made her seize up for a moment as she was caught off guard, her grin widened and she pushed her chest out a little.

Suddenly, Karen's spine quivered with a sense of _dread_. She looked over to Lucy who held a straight face but Karen had the sneaking suspicion that she was giving her the stink eye.

Lincoln spoke up, "Why thank you…uh, *****"Karen"***** KAREN! Wonderful to see you again, Karen." Lincoln laughed a little but before Karen could respond, Kara pushed her away.

"Lincoln, Lucy, you're… super early, it's like 4 and you're _here_… on your own. Did you guys really just walk all the way here?" She asked before she was stunned by the two, all dressed up for dinner.

Kara had put on a shirt over her plain shirt.

The two lovers looked to each other and shrugged before Lincoln answered, "Well yeah, you didn't tell us if we were getting a lift and we know it's a bit early but we really didn't want to wait for it to get dark _before_ we decided to show up." He explained as Kara looked down.

"I am really sorry about that, I didn't mean to leave you in the dark. Also dinner is not quite ready yet, so you're gonna have to wait a while."

Lincoln stopped her, "Hey, it's cool. No harm done, our fault, we wanted to get here early. Oh and before I forget, WE brought a little something." Lincoln said as Lucy looked away with a huff, he presented the two serving dishes.

Kara's eyes widen with excitement, "~Oooh~, what do we have here?" She asks wondering what her new friends have given her.

"Oh, just a little something for dessert and a heads up, the choco-fiend here will stop at nothing to get her hands on these, so make sure to keep an eye ou- Oww!" Lincoln yelps as an invisible force hits him over the head.

"Sh-shut up!" Lucy exclaimed, already embarrassed over her _addiction_ being outed to her new friend.

Lincoln smirked as they were invited in by Kara.

Karen wasted no time in asking to hold Salem. Lucy, with some reluctance handed her over with a silent command to be good.

Lincoln and Lucy were given the tour. The Kent house was beautiful, it really felt like a home, every picture telling a story that fills the house with life and memories to share.

The walls, floors and ceiling were wooden, just about every step make a creaking sound, everyone's except Lincoln's, he's learned never to make a sound walking years ago and no one was quick to point it out.

Lincoln had been reintroduced to Clark who's handshake had a fierce grip, much stronger than Karen's, it kind of hurt Lincoln a bit, though he hadn't made it known.

Lincoln got a better look at Clark, he knew he was still taller but couldn't help but admire Clark's larger frame, even with a great body Lincoln can still get jealous of other guys. It happens.

It seems this family just loves simple shirts and jeans, was it a common trend at the Kent house?

He re-meet, Jonathan and Martha who were in the kitchen, she gave her thanks for the dessert, originally, apple pies had been planned but a certain someone who was not named forgot to get what she needed.

As she was taking something out of the oven, she was distracted by Conner, he was just leering over towards Lincoln when she called out to him, but her large metal pan slipped out of her grip and was headed for the floor, dinner would be ruined.

That was until it appeared in Lincolns hand, he was so fast, he caught and held the pan in between his hands, Martha was in shock but as she snapped out of it, she quickly took the pan from him and brought his hands to her in horror, imagining how badly his palms must be burnt only to discover they're fine.

She'd asked if he was alright and his reply was casual, Martha was at a loss, even with powers, her kids could still get burned if they weren't careful, but to see Lincoln handle something that's been roasting in her oven for a long time, like it was nothing, really made her wonder.

Lincoln and Lucy moved on with their tour. In the den, Karen had put on a movie that the two didn't seem interested in. Lucy had talked with Kara and Lincoln just tried to pretend he didn't know Conner was staring at him.

Lincoln had spotted something interesting, a magazine. Something felt familiar about it as something compelled him to grab it and turn it over and he couldn't believe his eyes.

*****Gasp***** "Ace Savvy!" He announced, as Kara's head turned to him.

It was Ace Savvy, the playing card themed hero, the cover was of him and his partner, one-eyed Jack.

Kara approached him carefully, "You're uhh, familiar with Ace?" She asks with some hesitation in her voice.

"Uh YEAH, it was only my favorite series! Y'know not enough people appreciated him, I had to be the biggest nerd for Ace, heh, me and my bud used to draw our own comics about us being Ace and One-eyed Jack." He said with excitement and Kara's eyes shined.

"Oh…My…GOD! Finally, someone who gets me!" She almost shouted as Lincoln looked to her with curiosity and her cheeks redden.

"Well, what do you know? I didn't think anyone read Ace Savvy anymore." Lincoln said just gazing at the comic book.

"Y'know, it's so hard to meet fans, I could talk about him for days." Kara told with a big toothy grin. "Can I show you something?" She asks but before she got an answer, Kara led Lincoln by the arm, upstairs to her room as Lucy followed.

Lincoln took this opportunity to be snarky, "Wow, a little forward don't you think? I mean, I _just_ met your family and what would Lucy think about this." He smirked as Kara stopped, looked back with a mighty blush and Lucy half-heartedly glares at Lincoln.

"Shut up and prepare to be amazed." Kara spoke with her back to Lincoln.

"Yeah, wouldn't be the first time a girl told me that while dragging me somewhere private." He muttered that while elbowing at Lucy who's glare turned icy.

Lincoln was brought into a furnished bedroom with a nice big bed, a mirror, a closet and a mess of videotapes and discs (probably for movies), he saw a few old televisions in the tour, Lincoln even spotted some handheld gaming devises, ones that were battery operated.

Lincoln was starting to get worried as Kara stopped in front of her closet and opened it in dramatic fashion to reveal… a clothing rack.

Then Kara slid her outfits onto one side of her closet as the now barren side was shown to have a stack of comics all dedicated to Ace Savvy.

"~Dun Dun Dun Duuuun~!" Kara sang out in reminiscence to an old game series.

Lincoln's eyes widen and the glow in them grew more and more intense but Lucy was uninterested.

It was a treasure trove as Kara picked them up by stacks and Lincoln skimmed each one in awe.

The original Bronze age run, the silver age, gold and so on to the modern era. Her collection was just as big as his and Clyde's combined stash but then his eyes spotted something unreal.

The Infinity Crisis series. Collaboration runs of Ace Savvy meeting other comic heroes.

-Ace and the Black Bat\- Vol. 1-3

-Ace and Cat-man Deluxe Edition- (Comic tie for the Cat-man Live-action show)

-Ace vs. The Patriot\- Duo issue

-Ace and the Justice Friends: Featuring Major Glory, Van Halen and The Infraggable Krunk- Oneshot

-Ace meets The Crimson Chin\- Anthology Special

-Ace Savvy & One-eyed Jack vs. The Dragonfly & The Black Rooster- Vol. 1-6

-Ace Savvy & The Sensational Dragonfly\- Anniversary Special

-Ace and The Crow- (For the older, edgier fanbase)

Etc, etc, etc, Lincoln never thought he'd ever see let alone touch the physical, paperback limited series comic run, Infinity Crisis. He's only seen images online just like everyone else he knew, until now.

~X~

Lincoln and Kara were talking and reading in her room, occasionally, a very bored Lucy would stretch and push out her ample chest grabbing Lincoln's attention and when she had it, she would bounce and jiggle them as she eyed a hardening muscle that made itself known against his pants.

Lucy was about to do something more suggestive when suddenly a knock alerted them to Karen's presence. The two Ace fans bashfully exited the room with a grinning Lucy and joined everyone at the table.

Conner was minding his own business when Lincoln took the seat beside him, across from Kara and Lucy and _that_ got on his nerves after hearing why Kara took him upstairs, '_So he's nerd too, this guy can not get any worse._

_ Whatever, it's not like everyone else will like him, they'll see he's just a pest and after tonight and then I'll never have to deal with him. Clark and Karen knows he can't be trusted and Dad is smart enough not to let this guy worm his way into his head. It's not like he really has anything worth saying, I'm looking forward to the awkward peace and quiet_.' Conner thought with a smirk.

~X~

-15 Minutes Later-

'_God Dammit_!' Conner screamed inside his head as he heard the laughter of his family and Lincoln as he regaled them with stories of him and Lucy in the dead-zone.

"…so then we triggered the metal detector and DUP swarms the place-" He's cut off by Lucy.

"Correction, YOU set off the metal detector because you refused to empty your pockets and dump the change." She sent him a slight glare as the laughter was reduced to chuckles.

"75 cents is 75 cents, what am I supposed to do, throw away money!" Lincoln playfully argued as Martha roared in joy.

"Oh, you are just Like Jonathan, money, money, money. Hold onto every cent like it's worth your life." Her husband sends her a glare as Lucy felt smug and validated which Lincoln could feel.

Jonathan speaks up, "Money's money and I very much doubt society has crumbled enough to get by on favors out there and WE still have to pay for things here with money." The Kent patriarch says trying to defend his damaged pride.

Lincoln feels justified and crossed his arms and nods in solidarity.

Conversations continue, with Jonathan and Clark talking about what's needed on the farm and what to take care of next.

Martha and Karen talk about what's new in town, apparently patrol has been running around like crazy after getting some news from over the gates, this made Lincoln turn to them for a brief moment but looked back to Kara as they talked about her game collection and how hard it is to get batteries now, she can't play her larger consoles and all but two of her handhelds are basically dead, the generator just can't support everything, the Kent home not being part of the electrical grid makes it that much of a hassle.

Lincoln's heart went out to Kara for a short while, remembering just how much he misses his games back home. He thought about maybe charging her stuff out of pity but then he remembered he can't reveal himself and curses inward, he was hoping he could play with her.

Conner stares angrily at Lincoln but soon gives up considering no one is feeding his ego or giving him the time of day. He looks over to Salem on the floor enjoying her meal, as if sensing his gaze Salem looks to Conner with intense yellow eyes and glares at him until he looks away.

Lincoln was enjoying his meal until he felt something brush against his leg, he could feel that it was a foot. He looked across to see Lucy, not even looking at him, just eating, her features unchanged, no smirk, no laugh, nothing.

Lincoln _knows_ it's her, he didn't need his powers for that and tried to look down when Kara called out to him, "Lincoln, everything alright?" She saw him fluster.

He quickly dashed her concerns, "Uh, yup, everything's A-Okay, just can't get enough of this… amazing meatloaf." He said with a smile to hide the truth. It was then that Martha addressed him.

"Well, there's plenty, don't worry about asking for seconds." She says not knowing what's really going on.

As another helping was added onto his plate, a stocking clad foot had made its way to his inner thigh, he tried to signal her to stop but it wasn't as if he could just come out and say it.

Then her toes start rubbing his crotch, Lincoln's grip on the utensils was so strong it's a wonder they hadn't warped and deformed yet as Lincoln tried to conceal his erection.

Just as Lincoln was getting used into it and resolved to let Lucy work her magic, the foot pulled back, as he looked up, he saw Lucy flash a quick smile, knowing this freaking tease got him.

Lincoln is left sulking, sporting a flush and Lucy leaves him be but something keeps her from eating.

Lucy picks at the remainder of her dinner; Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and salad, all nice big helpings. Lucy stares at it, it's not bad, in fact it's almost as great as her dad's meatloaf, she just needs a moment to appreciate it along with the scenery, a father, mother, sisters and Lincoln all just talking. For a moment she sees her family as they were years ago and looks despondent, Martha notices it.

"What's wrong, Lucy? Not feeling for meatloaf tonight?" Martha asks with her motherly voice as Lucy winces at her caring tone.

Everyone looks to Lucy as she shrinks before answering, "N-no, sigh, it's just, it's been a while since… I've had a meal like this- Not to say your cooking isn't good, Lincoln, but uh…" She leaves it on a lull before Lincoln picks up.

"It's been a long time since we had a _Family_ meal, is that it?" He asks hitting the nail on the head as Lucy nods.

Martha continues, "Oh, I'm sorry, is your family de-" She's cutoff by a frantic Lucy.

"No- uh they're alive, I think, I know they're safe out of the wall, I guess I'm just feeling homesick is all."

Jonathan then asks, "Wait, then where'd you come from?" It was directed at the two.

Lincoln answers, "Michigan, born and raised." He says on reflex as Pa Kent continues.

"Michigan, you two are a long way from home, huh." He finishes as Karen squawked out her question.

"Then how did you end up HERE?"

Lucy stays silent as Lincoln answers, "Well, her family was invited to this science exposé in Seattle when-" he is stopped by the looks given to him by the Kent family. Their eyes were wide and a few mouths were hanging loose, time seemed to freeze for them as Lincoln called out to them, "Woah guys, are you feeling alright?" Nothing, They just stare at him, "You know I've heard of a _stare-down_ but this is getting weird." Still nothing, Lincoln looks to Lucy as she shrugs.

Finally, after a while Kara speaks up, "Y-you mean, you two were THERE, at… ground-zero?"

Lincoln looks on mentally smacking his forehead, he's never told this story, at least not to people this close to the wall, '_Ground-zero, must be what people are calling it now_.' He thinks before answering, "Yeah, I mean we were both-"

*****SLAM***** Lincoln is halted by the sound of Conner slamming his palms on the dinner table, "Bullshit!" *****"Conner"***** he looks to his mother who is furious but is ignored, "No fucking way he's telling the truth, there are no survivors!" He shouts as Lucy looked impassive while Lincoln counters.

"Well, I mean we didn't come out of it unscathed, just look at us-" Once again he is interrupted.

"Everyone knows whatever was in that bomb killed everything at ground-zero and the next towns over, there is no Goddamn way you two were there!" Conner knows he has to be lying, there was about a month before the walls came up and the media was all over it, hazmat teams were observing the aftermath and collecting samples to show and tell everyone what happened and it was clear, EVERYONE at and near ground-zero was killed, or transformed into what would later be known as B.O.W.'s. The closer you were to ground-zero and the immediate explosion, in more likelihood you are to be either dead or an abomination by then.

The announcement was made before some strange phenomenon had blocked communications from the states surrounding Washington. People within the wall still don't know what caused it, nor have had any direct, stable communications from outside the wall in years.

Lincoln goes on, "Well that's too bad, we were there and made it out, whether you believe me or not really doesn't matter to me or anyone else." And as he said that Conner looked about ready to throw down until his father put his foot down.

"Damnit boy, will you give it a rest and let him finish, *****sigh*****, now go on Lincoln."

Lincoln smiles at Jonathan and nods, "Thank you." Lincoln vaguely retells his experience up to the blob while leaving out details that he felt were not _needed_.

"Why were _you_ there, Lincoln?" Clark raised.

"What?" Lincoln asks as Clark repeats himself.

"Why were you there, wasn't Lucy's family invited?"

"Oh… I'm… _close_ with her family, they took me along." He said flatly as Lucy subtly looked to him, her heart was racing.

Karen asks, "What about your parents, were they just okay with it?"

"Orphan." Lincoln deadpans with no indication of annoyance or irritation, maybe a bit of haste.

"… I am so sorry-" Lincoln waves her off.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Lincoln finishes as everyone sat in silence, Ma and Pa Kent looked nervous with some pity on their face, Karen and Clark looked to one another as if wanting the other to say something while being lost for words, Conner looked uninterested and still set in his ways but Kara looked to be in deep thought, like she was asking herself a million questions.

Something didn't sit right with Kara as she kept replaying Lincoln's story over and over, feeling as if she was missing something important.

Not appreciating the awkward tension, Lincoln calls out, "So, who's ready for dessert?" Everyone perks up a little.

~X~

Everyone had been… surprised by what Lincoln had brought in, it kind of looked like a mess, it was something coated with chocolate and caramel sauce. The Kents were curious but no one asked, until Conner opened his mouth.

"Alright, I'll do it. What the hell are we looking at?" He asked rudely as his mother was really giving him the stink eye that said, _We will have words later_.

Lincoln gained a smirk, "What you are looking at, Connie, is my dessert lasagna." As he explained, Conner started huffing, Karen and Clark chuckled at Conner's expense, Kara looked intrigued while Ma and Pa Kent gain a look that was split between uncertainty and deep interest, it's not a normal dessert to be fair and they probably don't know what to expect.

Kara speaks up, "I usually make it a rule to know what's in something new before I put it in my body, so… what's in it?" Lincoln raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have any allergies?"

"No but just looking at this makes me feel like I need a shot of insulin." She jabs at Lincoln's dessert as Lucy's look darkens a bit.

"Fair enough. If I may, Mrs. Kent." He gestures to an unused knife on the table, she lets him use it as he cuts out a square serving and shows it off.

"Like lasagna or a cake, this is layered. For the bottom crust we have a mixture of graham crackers and toasted shredded coconut, the first layer is a thin coating of melted caramel. Next we have chocolate pudding, after, a whipped cream and cream cheese mixture and lastly it's topped with even more toasted coconut and smothered in melted chocolate and caramel. It's typically chilled for a few hours before serving." Lincoln finished before handing the first serving to Kara.

Lucy pouted as Lincoln turned to her with pity and gave a smile, "Be patient." He said in a hush whisper before she nodded.

"Mmmmm, so good." Lincoln turned to hear Kara moaning in delight and that was what her family needed to hear as they waited for their cut as Lincoln smirked.

~X~

Everyone had been happily munching away at their treat and Lucy kept helping herself to more.

Martha and Lincoln had exchanged tips on their cooking as she surprisingly gave helpful critique on his dessert. Some time had passed before mention of having the two over again had surfaced, to which, Lincoln and Lucy happily accepted much to Conner's annoyance as Lucy could feel.

Lincoln spoke up, "Well then, the next time we do this, I'll have to bring over real food and not diabetic shock in a pan and I make a mean brisket if I do say so myself." He says with confidence.

The Kent Matriarch adopted a judging look, "Oh do you now? And what would a young man like yourself know about preparing a brisket?" Lincoln recognized this playful jab of a challenge, a mother who takes feeding her loving family seriously, feels the need to test some uppity 20 year old.

Lincoln plays along, "Oh well, you know, I've played grill master for a couple of barbecues and I've been taught by the best chef I know." Lincoln dramatically ends with a smirk.

"Well then, I guess we'll have to see how well you do won't we." Martha ended while holding in a laugh as her family looks at her strangely as Lincoln replies.

"I guess we will." Lincoln grins.

"Okay, this is starting to get weird." Kara says.

Lincoln retorts, "Really, now it's getting weird, not even considering half the stories about the weird crap I've seen or me going out of my way to prank the DUP with looney tunes styled shenanigans or even the time I started a bar brawl to get out of paying a 15$ tab and even looted top shelf wine."

"And I'd love to hear more some time." She responds.

Then Kara hears her sister mutter, "Yeah, I bet you would." She teased as Kara threw a glare her way just as Lincoln spoke up.

"Well, I guess it's time to pack it in and head back to our place, right Luce?" He calls over to Lucy, who nods and Kara looks disappointed.

"You don't have to leave right away do you, I mean we got some time to kill, maybe a movie or just hanging out and telling us more about what kinds of trouble you got yourselves into." Kara said really wanting the two to stay just a little longer but then Jonathan spoke up.

"C'mon Kara, you don't want to overwhelm them, they'll still be here in town for a while, you'll see them again." His wife continued.

"That's right, tomorrow's another day."

Karen stood up, "Yeah, give them a break sis," she walked over to Kara and put her into a hugging headlock as her sister tried to push her off, "But Linc, do come back again, I wanna see how strong you really are." She give him a smirk, it was at that moment Conner felt the need to show Lincoln up.

"Why bother, we know he's not really strong, he just copies powers, nothing significant about that." As his family grunts and tries to reprimand him, Lincoln was at a loss, where would Conner get that idea, until he looks at Kara and remembers that's his cover story.

Kara looks apologetic at Lincoln but he waves it off, it really doesn't matter to him.

~X~

Jonathan is talking with Lincoln as he and Lucy are sent on their way with a tray of leftovers while Salem hoped into Lucy's shadow.

"You two sure I can't talk you into getting a ride back into town?" He asks knowing it's good form to see his guests safely back home even as they refused.

"Nah, it's cool, anyways, _someone's_ gotta burn of that dessert, right Luce." He playfully jabs at Lucy just as he feels a shiver down his spine.

Lucy turns to him, her face unchanged from uncaring but Lincoln could feel her ire and knew he done fucked up, '_uh oh_'.

Jonathan took this as a sign to leave them, for his own safety and wished them well.

Lucy spoke ever so softly with a small smile, "Why, my dear Lincoln, are you ca**lling me FAT**?" Her cool tone never raising but Lincoln knew she meant business.

"O-of course not Lucy, i-it was just uhh-" He's trying to back up but something keeps him grounded.

Lucy starts walking to him as he frantically shouts to her, "Lucy, Lucy wait, before you kill me, let me say something.

If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you canpossiblyimagain!" He screeched out before she was upon him, he was forced to bend over to her slightly and he was at eye level.

He opened his mouth but before he could say anything, she cupped his face and buried her lips into his own as her mock rage seemingly disappears like it never even existed. Lucy lets him go and walks ahead of him as he was left to admire her swaying hips and mindlessly followed.

'_Good boy_,' Lucy thought

-**_XxX_**-

Down the dirt road which ran between a parted forest leading into town, something had caused Lincoln to snap to attention and coughed, getting Lucy's attention and passed her the leftovers.

She was getting a reading from Lincoln, _Danger_ and _Caution_, she took this signal to put up her barrier as her shadow grew darker.

** *BANG***

Lincoln tilted his body as a bullet missed him. Lincoln turns to the direction of the bullet's origin and narrowed his eyes, "You might as well come out now!" He called out.

The sun was setting and from tree lines emerged a good number of figures, the two lovers stood as Lincoln took this moment to close his eyes.

'_Seven, just seven, all wearing body armor and ski masks, each with pistols_.' Lincoln took inventory of his possible opponents as he spied only 6 but knew the seventh was still lurking about, believing they're hidden.

He whispered _Seven_, to Lucy and to that she subtly nodded, she understood to be on the lookout.

One was very close to the two, Lincoln was cautious as he spoke up.

"So, what's going on in this neck of the woods?" Lincoln snickered at his own bad joke, "Did we break curfew." He said in a joking manner but none answered as the closest one rushed to him.

Lincoln could see it happening in slow motion the first assailant's goes to throw a punch and covering the fist are knuckle dusters, Lincoln effortlessly caught it with one hand, pulled his attacker to him and flipped the person over his head with assistance from his other hand.

The first attacker hadn't expected to be thrown overhead or landing on the ground so hard but rolls away and got onto their feet.

Lincoln expected him to reengage in close quarters but found it strange that his attacker hadn't stepped forward but then Lincoln ducked as a gunshot was sounded and a bullet whizzed by where his shoulder would be.

Lincoln turned for a moment to see three more attackers whip out their guns and point them at him.

Lucy stayed where she was, barely acknowledging the enemy when suddenly a bullet hit an invisible wall and fell to the ground.

"Forget her! Fall back." One barked out, as Lucy raised an arm but was stopped by Lincoln.

"Luce, let me get this." He said as he gave a spinning roundhouse to the attacker trying to flee, they fell to the ground, out cold, "Watch over this one."

Lincoln raced over to the group of now five would-be assailants as they retreated behind the tree lines.

As four ran deeper, the fifth took a shot at Lincoln, he could see it coming and knew where it would hit but he noticed something _off_ about it and as it got nearer, his hand snatched it from midair and it laid between his fingers.

'_Rubber bullet_?' He thought while trying to understand why go through the trouble of attacking him with _non-lethal_ ammo, were they trying to capture him, were they with the DUP, did they find him again, all questions he would get to later, first he needed to take them down.

The gunman who took a shot at Lincoln was stunned that he just caught that bullet and kept running towards him, he didn't have time to react as Lincoln launched himself at the person and tackled him to the ground.

With one _light_ punch to the dome, Lincoln saw his foe go down. Quickly, Lincoln reached over and grabbed the gun then spotted a knife on their belt and took that too.

After arming himself, Lincoln resumed the chase for his and Lucy's attackers. He jumping up and hopped from tree branch to tree branch, he caught up to the rest in no time.

Lincoln landed as the remaining four each took shots at Lincoln.

***Bang Bang Bang Bang*** Over and over, each gun fired but Lincoln didn't take cover, he kept walking forward and swiped at each rubber bullet with his newly liberated knife.

Each sliced and deflected bullet fell helplessly to the ground as Lincoln advanced on his attackers. He jumped over their heads as he turned and flipped, landing in between them all.

One raised a gun, intending to aim at Lincoln but he caught their hand and aimed it up to the sky was it went off with a mighty, ***Bang***, then he twisted their wrist making them open their hand and drop the gun.

Suddenly, Lincoln back kicked another one as they were launched to a tree and slumped over in pain.

Not letting go of the one in his grasp, Lincoln, without looking, moved his head where a fist had struck from behind. Lincoln kicked in a leg from the person he was holding onto and made them loose their footing as Lincoln pulled and lifted his victim and threw them by the arms at the one who tried to throw that punch.

In less than 3 seconds Lincoln had downed three more attackers and turned to the last one who looked back as if contemplating what to do but saw no alternative but to fight and as they reached for their gun, a knife shot out skewered it into the ground, so they rushed Lincoln, knife at the ready.

Lincoln appreciated the use of non-lethal rounds, he would gladly extend the same curtesy. No guns, no killing, so he can interrogate them, afterwards, he was thinking about turning them over to Slade and depending on what he does, he and Lucy may need to leave post haste.

Lincoln tilted his body and kept moving, not letting his last attacker land a hit with the knife, Lincoln blocked their knife wielding arm and palmed them in the shoulder, sending them skidding backwards as they landed on a knee.

They picked themselves back up and reengaged.

As they went in for swipe, Lincoln grabbed their knife hand by the wrist and twisted it, forcing them to drop their weapon.

Lincoln, channeling his inner Lynn's wrestling persona, lifted his opponent over his shoulder and threw them over. That tumble didn't take the fight out of the attacker as they came back with just their fists.

Lincoln dodged punch after punch without any trouble until his opponent overextended themselves, he then grabbed and threw them over his shoulder with a judo flip.

Putting a foot over their chest, Lincoln pressed hard, he was about ready to knock the last guy out before they spoke.

"Wait, wait, STOP!" Lincoln knew that voice.

He lifted his foot off of the _woman_, removed her mask and he just couldn't believe it.

"Goddammit, YOU, whatever your name is!" It was the same woman from the day before who was chewing out Francis.

"It's Beth." She wheezed out trying to catch her breath.

"Yeah, don't care, what the fuck is this about?" Lincoln said trying to contain the aggression that was building up.

"We just wanted to see what you'd do-" ***Hack*** She probably had more to say but needed to cough after getting the wind knocked out of her.

"You know, I've killed people for ambushing me and Luce like that." He pauses and takes a hard breath in frustration, "Under different circumstances, you wouldn't get the chance to call out."

With the powers Lincoln's packing these days, he could've ended this the moment he saw them, luckily for Beth, Lincoln has really been trying to keep the body count to a minimum if he can help it.

"Look, I'm sorry but when Slade told us, you'd be comin' along for a job, we had to know if you could handle this much at least, I didn't think you'd handle _us_ this fast.

We thought you were like the Kent boys, and I mean Frankie was just supposed to be the distraction, when you threw him over your head, we knew better than to mess with you up close.

On another note what was up with you and that samurai biz, you just took a knife and diced our rounds like a speedster and that tree jumpin' like a Goddamn ninja."

Lincoln was getting annoyed and didn't care enough to answer Beth's questions, "So this was some kind of test for me?" He deadpanned, there could have been a more practical way to do this than waiting until after his dinner date with the Kents.

"N-not just for you…" This got Lincoln's attention, ***Bang*** he heard a blast, ***Eeeeeeeeee*** followed by high-pitched echo and he knew someone tossed a flashbang, he was about to go back for Lucy when he looked back at Beth.

A small spark of electricity surged between his right index and middle finger as he pressed them to the head of a panicking Beth and she quickly passed out.

This was done by channeling and manipulating the electricity that flows through Lincoln and halts the flow of electrons that moves through the nerve-system, kind of like a mini EMP that shuts down the brain for just a moment to force the victim into a state of unconsciousness.

With that Lincoln takes off to see someone in dark armor standing over a downed Lucy and angry Salem.

-**_XxX_**-

-Earlier-

After Lincoln takes off for the 5 other assailants, Lucy notices a presence, she senses a person in a state of _calmness_ and a tinge of _excitement_. She could feel it coming from above her as she looked behind her as she saw an armored figure standing atop a tree branch.

Before Lucy knew it, the armored figure leaped over to her with a big knife in hand but before they could make it close to Lucy, she raised a hand and they just hovered midair away from Lucy.

Bringing her raised hand closer to her, the would-be assailant was pulled closer and she got a good look.

The figure looked to be male and was decked out in armor, mostly dark and sleek on the chest, abdominals, arms, legs and a helmet on their head. The armor was mostly dark grey and black, the helmet was divided, the right side was black with a darkened eye hole, the left was orange with a white eye hole. Lucy notices a sword on the stranger's back the kind that Lincoln likes as seen with his manga collection and games she can't remember the word for it but knows it's Japanese.

On one hip is a submachine gun, on the other was a sheath for that knife.

One more thing Lucy notices is a large dent that nearly caves in the chest plate, it's shaped like a fist, someone has tried to punch in the man's chest cavity.

Then the figure spoke, "**Good reflexes but is this all you do when faced with confrontation, suspend your target**?" The man asked in a deep muffled and slightly intimidating voice.

Lucy was about to speak before the armored man took something from his back pocket and tossed it at Lucy, it was a smooth, cylinder canister of some kind, she caught it effortlessly with her **TK** but made the mistake of holding face-level.

** *Bang*** The canister was set of and a blinding flash of light forced Lucy to break focus and drop her attacker. The light also did something unexpected, it forced the large pool of shadow to shrink was pushed it away from Lucy as a small mass was ejected from the withered pool of darkness.

Out came Salem who looked physically stunned as she was forced out of her dark dwelling.

The sun goes down and with no nearby light sources, darkness soon takes hold as the view becomes more obscure.

Lucy, still blinded by the light was also disoriented by the high-pitched whining noise from the explosion, raises a hand as a **TK** force pushes towards where she is _feeling_ her assailant's excitement.

The armored man sees Lucy's arm point his way as he quickly moves away and sees the bark on a nearby tree break open like it was hit by a sledgehammer. The man turned back to see a black tendril launch itself at him, he rolled out of the way and was sent flying back by a force.

He skidded back and ran as fast as he could to Lucy just as she could finally see again. Whilst in the dark, Lucy saw the armored man speed to her and as he leapt forward but he was caught and once again suspended in midair.

The armored man sighed deeply and saw shadowy spikes protrude from the ground via the cat.

"**So what now? You have me again but what comes after, you just leave me alive and intact**?" The man asked, what's his problem, he was captured, who was he to judge his state of being.

"I have no need to end you." Lucy says with a solid voice.

"**You're hesitating, is this how you survived the dead-zone**?" The attacker asked as Lucy bit her lip.

"I didn't survive by killing everything in sight, if that's how you do things, it's safe to say, I am nothing like you." She said with an edge.

"**You've got that right**!" He said before tossing a pellet of some kind. It was small and dark, really hard to see until it made its way to Lucy's feet and she just raised a hand a moment too late as it popped and a hazy fume made its way to her nostrils and she fainted.

Salem was near it and began wobbling but stood at her friend's fallen form.

** ***Crunch***** The sound that made the cat and the man turn was Lincoln landing on the parted road.

One look at Lucy's downed form was all he needed to look to his opponent with rage in his eyes. 'He's dead, he just dug his own grave! FRY HIM!' The more violent part of Lincoln's mind roared in his head, '_No Lincoln, don't rush in, Lucy's still there, it's not safe for her, use your head, like master Lao Shi said, he who loses focus, loses his footing. Think it through, use that gun you got_.' The calmer part of his mind reasoned.

The man looked to Lincoln, "**Huh, 52 seconds, I'm impressed**." He sounded almost happy, then something impacted his chest.

***BANG BANG BANG BANG*** Shot after shot made its way to the armored man's chest but they bounced or even ricocheted off the bulky chest piece. 'USELESS ASS _GOD DAMN RUBBER BULLETS_!'

Lincoln decided to aim for the eyes, and let off another calculated round aimed straight for the white eye but the man raised an arm anddeflected the rubber bullet.

"**Good aim kid. But I wonder if you can keep up NOW**." The man said as if he predicted the complete absence of sunlight, now the road between the woods has been blanketed in darkness.

Lincoln's glowing golden eyes meet Salem's greenish-yellows and without any command, Salem dragged Lucy into a shadowy dome and moved further into the woods.

Now that the distraction was gone Lincoln could do this no probl- The man shot towards Lincoln in moderate speed, still too slow for _Lincoln_ to worry about.

The man brandished a knife and Lincoln remembered he threw away his own.

Blocking the man's every stab and slice by stopping the arms, Lincoln searches for opening, only to find no flaw in the man's movement, he's honed his body well and though Lincoln may be stronger than the man in front of him that's no reason to trust that his opponent wasn't prepared for it.

Lincoln dodged a swipe at the neck when he took the opportunity to knock the blade out of the man's hand and catch it as it flipped midair, now Lincoln was armed and going on the offensive.

With his powers, Lincoln could make quick work of this but there was still the thought that he needed to appear a relatively normal mutant and hand the attacker over to Slade. At the very least, Lincoln wasn't going to light anyone up, yet.

Lincoln's new knife was being stopped by the armor plates of the man so he decided to aim for the gaps between the plating. Lincoln sped up his movements, causing his foe to hasten his own movements, Lincoln caught him by surprise and nicked the man here and there and as Lincoln went for an overhead stab, the man held Lincoln's stabbing arm at bay with both of his arms.

Lincoln added a little more force and the knife was coming down, though the expression was not visible on Lucy's attacker, Lincoln could feel the stress and panic in their inability to force him back.

But then ***BZZZZT*** an electrical current had zapped Lincoln's arm and forced his hand upward as the man punched away the knife and jumped back to a safe distance.

Lincoln rushed to the man but saw him reach behind him for a… katana.

'_Christ! You were in on it too_!' As Lincoln got closer to the man who's identity he was certain of.

"Slade! You son of a-" Slade took a swipe as Lincoln put up his arms to shield himself. The blade sliced through Lincoln's unprotected skin, an impressive feat at this point, for a simple bladed weapon at least.

Lincoln jumped back and watched as blood careened down to his fingers and he adopted a fierce look.

"Slade, what the fuck is this about?" Lincoln half shouted, trying to reign himself in. There were wide gashes on both of his arms but almost instantly, the wounds were shrinking

"**This was a test for the two of you, gotta say, I'm disappointed in the girl, you however, you took out my boys in under a minute**." He paused as he took a look at Lincoln, "**Though, we may have to put this on hold, you need medical attention**." He pointed to Lincoln's arms, not knowing they were stitching and mending themselves.

Lincoln huffed, "Oh, there's no need." He said with an edge to his voice as Slade took a stance. '_So he can see me just fine, or got lucky with that thing, whatever, assume the worse, do __**not**__ underestimate him_.'

"**Well, well, **-" He stopped when Lincoln was upon him, in just a moment Lincoln was in arms reach. This shocked Slade but no matter, he slashed at Lincoln only for his blade to stop cold on Lincoln's arm, they gained a dark metallic sheen to them and Slade was starting to enjoy this more and more.

Before Slade could take another swing at Lincoln, he received a heavy punch to the chest, right where the fist shaped dent was.

Slade skidded back very far and seemed unchanged, not even winded, he took a moment to feel his chest plate to see it was holding up. '_Huh, stronger than Conner by miles but not nearly as much as the brother_.'

Just as Slade was getting a chance to think, Lincoln just zoomed over to him, the armored lieutenant grinned in exhilaration and readied his sword.

Slade swung, but his blade was blocked and so he swung again. _Left Right Left Right_, he found his blade being halted every time. The armored lieutenant took a step back and thrusted forward, intending to impale his adversary.

Lincoln pivoted on his heel, letting the katana blade sail past him as he kicked Slade's arms up but his foe kept hold of his weapon. Lincoln, not wanting the opportunity to pass by, took his clawed hand and swiped at Slade's helmeted face. It connected and Lincoln shredded the front piece of the helmet as Slade's face was now exposed.

Slade felt blood drip from his face but smirked even harder as he readied to take on this beast. He saw the look in Lincoln's eyes and felt something akin to himself, it's the first time in a long time he's felt relaxed, not out of negligence but in anticipation for something harder than he's used to, a challenged even.

When in combat, Slade knows it's not a slugfest, one blow after another. It can all be decided in an instant; whoever could land the decisive blow first was guaranteed victory.

The thing is, this Lincoln was much, MUCH faster than him, apparently he could see just fine in the dark, dodge bullets from behind and can grow armor and claws but then of course to top it off, he can heal very quickly.

Slade had the feeling this was just the beginning.

Lincoln took down his men under a minute, Slade could do it no problem, but he needs more than _just_ a minute, sure Lincoln's a mutant but that shouldn't make a difference if Lincoln had to engage in CQC, which is obvious with that newly acquired gun that definitely belonged to one his own.

'_Just who the hell are you, Lincoln Park_?' Slade thought as he drew his gun and readied his blade.

And the two clashed once again, determined to find a winner.

-**_XxX_**-

-Kent House-

After their guests had left, the family of six had begun talking or in Martha and Conner's case arguing over his choice in words. Meanwhile off to the side, Clark, Karen and Jonathan are just talking about dinner as Kara stares off in deep thought.

"So, uh… what'd you two think?" Pa Kent asked his two eldest.

"They were alright, Lucy was quiet, which is to be expected from the whole goth thing. Lincoln is more of the talker but he kinda seems off." Voiced Clark, then Karen speaks up.

"I don't know, they seem cool. Lincoln really cleans up well, like really well, ditch the shades and jacket, put on a nice shirt and he could charm his way through town." Karen ends with a smirk.

"Okay, but what did you think? The day we met them, you both looked, concerned, worried even, are you still worried, now?" The Kent patriarch tried to fish for a specific response.

The two eldest looked to each other and shrugged.

Clark started, "I guess, after getting to know them, they must've been through a lot. The other day, the guy looked ready to shoot someone without thinking twice but at the table he was… I don't know." He ends as Karen picks up.

"Like he was the most stable person on the planet?" She tried to finish her cousin's thoughts.

"Maybe, or maybe he just didn't see a threat and all was right with the world." Clark tried to explain.

Jonathan nodded, he and his wife feel like they understood their guests, that there's more to them than what they saw a couple of days ago.

Just then Kara made her thoughts known, "I think he's hiding something." She said getting her uncle's attention.

"And what do you think it is?" He asked curious over what Kara might be thinking.

"I don't know, I mean he told us a lot about his travels but I was expecting more, I don't know, horror stories about the dead-zone, the things I heard about it make it sound like one of those post-apocalyptic movies we've seen but here comes a well-mannered couple, who say they came from so deep in the dead-zone, they were where it started, y'know at ground-zero. He just seems so… normal, well-adjusted-" Kara would go on but Conner interrupted her.

"That's because he wasn't there!" Conner shouted. "The guy is lying, they'd be dead if they came from that deep, I bet all his stories were bullshit, *****"Conner!"***** whatever!" She shouted to his mother as his brother glared his way. "The only reason he could ever survive is cause he can lift someone else's powers, figures, assholes like him like to think they're tough when they can't even back it up."

"And there goes the pot calling the kettle black." Sassed Karen.

"You got something to say?" Conner tried to walk up to his cousin.

"Uh, I just said it, you got a hearing problem now, too?" Karen stomps to him as everyone tries to get between them.

** *BANG***

Everyone flinches back in worry.

Kara speaks first, "Oh My God!" Then her sister.

"Do you think that was them or… someone after them?" No one says anything until someone got up.

Clark walks out as his father calls out to him, "Son, don't." The Kent patriarch says, worried for his oldest.

Clark looks back, "I _have_ to go, I have to help Lincoln and Lucy." It was as simple as that.

His mother spoke up with clear distress, "Honey, it's dark how will you find your way, how do you know you can even help." Marth doesn't mean to sound indifferent to the two but that's her son going out.

"I'll make due, get a light an-" He's stopped by his cousin, Karen.

"Not a problem, I'm going with Clark." She announced to the concern of her family.

Conner, who had been silent up until this point was about to say something before Clark looks to him, "No." And just like that, Conner stomps to him.

"If it's a bunch of raiders, you bet your ass, I'm going." He said half sounding eager to bust some heads and half unsure.

"If it is, that's why you need to stay here, for them." Clark gestures to Ma, Pa and Kara.

Kara spoke out, "Look if you three are-" She silenced as everyone shouts _NO_ to her and she shrinks back, "Fine!"

Karen's the first one out the door as her hands light up as the path ahead of them begins to darken.

Clark and Karen run quickly, following the sounds of gunshots. They're a good distance away from the farm and further down the road as they hear running behind them.

Karen looks back and sees a figure, not waiting, she shoots a concussive beam of light at her foe only to see them put their hand up and be pushed back.

The person stalking them let out a grunt the two recognized and groaned as this person spoke up.

"Dammit, don't you know how to wait and see who it is you're shooting at, Fuck!" The angry words spoken by Conner as he examined his now ruined shirt, "Gee, thanks."

Clark angrily yells out, "Didn't I tell you to stay with them, why won't you just listen to me?"

Conner looks defiant and shouts back, "Because if these people make it into town when we could've done something, then that's on us!" Conner says without hesitation.

But then Clark calls out, "And if something happens to mom, dad or even Kara, then _that's_ on _you_! **GO**! **BACK**! **NOW**!" Clark calls out as if it's his final warning but then

** *BANG* **

There was an explosion followed by a brief light farther ahead, Clark and Karen paused just long enough for Conner to rush passed them and ignore their calls, so they were left only to run onward to the sound of more gunfire.

Clark was confident that he and maybe his brother could take gun shots to an extent, Karen has a good enough charge from this morning and can be much stronger than Conner, depending on her charge. Right now Kara and the folks are all alone, Kara's not strong like her sister and cousins, she's supposed to fly away to safety.

The three start to hear lots of unusual noises, clanging, slashes and things being broken, gun shots and they see some light.

They approach carefully as Karen shines her light brightly, illuminating the image in front of them.

Slade was pinned, bloodied and bruised, his legs frozen in a block of ice, an arm sunken into the ground like it was swallowed up, his katana stabbed into the ground beside his head and his other arm held down by an armored clawed hand belonging to the man they just had over for dinner.

On top of Slade was Lincoln. His clothes were riddled with bullet holes, there were cuts on his face and chest, he was bleeding. His arms were coated in what seems to be metal, one hand held Slade's arm down as the other was hovering over his head and was cackling with electricity. Lincoln's eyes were dull but fierce golden in color, they didn't look angry but rather serious, focused and beastly as if daring his prey to make a move.

Slade's eye was not filled with fear but anticipating the next move, he looked at peace, ready to accept what would come.

The two didn't even acknowledge the Kent brothers and miss Danvers, not until the light shined over them as they turned their faces towards the stunned three.

-**Lucy**-

Snoring, all Lucy could hear was the pleasant sounds of her lover sleeping, a rare luxury that could not be afforded for him at times, his snoring was her music box, granted it had nothing on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart but it was a pleasant and relaxing time for her, especially when she had Lincoln dozing upon her lap.

Her… non bone-white lap, they were more corpse grey like they had been several years ago, before HD. Lucy took another look at the snoring bundle of white hair. The head was significantly smaller than she was used to and the skin beneath the hair was a pasty-pinkish peach skin tone, like when he was 14.

Lucy realizes it must be a dream.

But… does she want to wake up? She's got Lincoln, he's relaxed, sleeping even. They're on a couch, and now a book appears before her, it's a list of quotes from various philosophers and writers but one particular line has her interest.

_Give A Man A Mask And He Will Show You Who He Truly Is_ – Oscar Wilde

She stared at it for a long time and of course, she thinks of herself and Lincoln. She thinks to herself, '_When are we wearing our masks and what truly are our masks_?' Lincoln is normally withdrawn and very unsocial, unless it calls for it but usually he's so hard on himself. He thinks himself a monster, tries desperately to reclaim himself only to lose what makes him Lincoln.

Lucy notices when he talks to people, Lincoln adopts some his sisters' personality traits. He tries to force jokes to lighten the mood, awful puns, Luan style, he's embraced Lynn's competitive side like with that weird food challenge by Mrs. Kent and then there's Luna's reference to music.

For example, when choosing his cover name, he made a music pun out of it, Lincoln Park. Luna and Luan would get a kick out of it.

She feels young Lincoln stir, "Lucy, what's wrong?" He grumbles, drifting in and out of sleep as she runs her hands over his hair.

"Nothing, Lincoln, go back to sleep, you need your strength." She says gently but hears his voice again.

"But how can I sleep, when I'm too busy protecting you?" The more mature voice she's been used to is heard from her side, she turns over and sees her lover, adult Lincoln.

"W-wha- but…" Lucy looks back to her lap and sees no one, her dream Lincoln, gone.

"It's time to wake up, Lucy." He says softly.

"No, I want to stay here with you, no more pain, no more trouble, no more…" She can't finish as Lincoln spoke up again.

"It's time, Lucy." He says with a little more force.

"No!" She yells out.

"WAKE UP, LUCY!" Lincoln screams.

"No!" Lucy resists.

***MEOWR***

"W-What." That startles her.

~X~

*****Rowr***** Salem is standing on her chest meowing and trying to bring Lucy into consciousness.

It's dark but Lucy can see the glowing yellow-green eyes of her feline companion, Salem. She begins tugging on Lucy's collar with her teeth, desperately trying to get Lucy up.

"Alright, I'm awake, what could be so wrong for you to wake me at this hour, Sal-" She stopped as she felt the dirt ground and a flood of memories rush through her head and feels a rumbling in the earth, "Lincoln!" She screams as she hovers and flies off to the light source, where she feels a wide range of emotions.

-**_XxX_**-

Back with the Kent – Danvers family of three.

Lincoln, their dinner guest was looming menacingly over Slade, who looked elated if anything. Each wounded and in need of medical attention and evidence to Lincoln's ability to apprehend someone like Slade.

Karen didn't know who started this but one thing was clear, Lincoln looked ready to kill and until they got the whole story, they needed to get Lincoln away from Slade, the lieutenant in charge of the Smallville base, responsible for keeping the town safe.

Karen raised her fists and leveled them at Lincoln that shined in his face and also marked where she'd hit.

"I am giving you a warning, back away from the man, right now." She was stern and though she believed her power to be ineffective but she and her cousins need to approach this carefully.

Suddenly, she was pulled onto her knees, her arms spread, still glowing but facing away from Lincoln and unable to turn to the new voice that spoke.

"And I'm giving _you_ a warning, lay your arms down, or they're coming off!" The voice of Lucy cut through the darkness as all but Karen was able to face her. Her eyes her glowing intensely and promised a world of hurt to any who crosses her.

Unfortunately, Conner isn't afraid.

"I knew it, you're both just a couple of raiders aren't you!" He refuses to understand that he was out of his depth and charges ahead without care.

But then tendrils of shadows emerge from the ground as they wrap and bind Conner, immobilizing him as a big black cat like a jaguar, reveals itself from the tree lining. Its glowing yellow eyes boring down on Conner as two sharpened spikes are raised to his neck.

Clark vaults up and tries to slam down on the big shadowy cat but its feet dissolved into an inky mass and glided over to the other side of Lucy. Clark was about to charge into the darkness but his eyes met with a pair of molten golden-amber eyes, the same kind that were locked onto Slade, he looked over and saw the darkened outline of Lincoln still on top of Slade.

Another Lincoln, he was staring at another Lincoln and as their eyes met, Clark could feel strength leave him, his will fading.

But then, Slade's voice called out, "Alright, that's enough! Why don't we take a minute to calm down and talk this over? Clark, Karen, ~Connie~, I appreciate your… intervention but this was my doing.

Mr. Park, Ms. Graves, would you please let them go so I can explain why I had my men attack you."

As he finished, The Kents looked distressed, they _knew_ what this was about and felt embarrassed by what happened.

Karen felt the hold on her fade as she dimmed her lights in a more non-threatening manner. Clark saw the second Lincoln in front of him vanish into a misty white aura that made its way to the Lincoln still on Slade. The dark bindings on Conner released and faded as the giant cat dissolved into the little Salem they're familiar with.

Then Lincoln leapt off of Slade and landed near Lucy, the metallic coating on his arms receded down from his shoulders to his finger tips and then, gone. The electricity stopped surging, he raised one hand to Slade and the ice melted into water and then evaporated, the part of the ground that had swallowed Slade's arm had widened as the arm was tugged free.

"Much obliged." Slade said as he stood up.

Lincoln with eyes narrowed looked over to Slade and took a breath, "Now that that's over with, explain what this is about!" Lincoln demanded.

Karen shined a light over to Lincoln, saw and remembered the bullet holes, "That can wait, we need to get you help first!" She said sounding very worried for the _wounded_ man.

Lincoln held up a hand, "No need." Was all he said before Clark voiced his concerns.

"What do you mean, you were jus-" He's stopped as Lincoln took off his shirts to reveal, there are no wounds, the blood was there but there were no signs of any harm. Lincoln was healed already. He uses the orange undershirt to clean up the blood and burns it into a pile of ash as he puts the tattered black shirt back on.

There was silence between the Kent – Danvers trio. Karen had been checking out Lincoln, admiring his physique, '_Oh my God, he cut_!"

Clark was at a loss for words, he knew Lincoln had copying powers and even met a power leech but this had to be something else, '_What are you_?'

Conner just felt like shit, seeing the plethora of abilities Lincoln possess was shocking, he assumed Lincoln could do nothing on his own but here he was, had beaten Slade to the ground without Lucy or his cat.

Slade speaks, "Since we're on the subject of explanations, can I… assume my men are dead?" He tried asking politely.

Lincoln stood silent as everyone turned to him. "And what would you say if they were?" He asked rhetorically.

That horrified the trio, Slade's men all dead, by Lincoln no less, it may have been expected on the first day they all met but still, they now know the circumstances as to why could he have done such a thing, but it makes it no less a horrifying thing to happen to the people protecting Smallville.

Slade responds, "Then I'd say, they knew what they were getting into when I put them up to this. I'd tell everyone they all died because of me."

This really upset Lucy, they were ambushed by masked assailants and though Lincoln is trying to do things differently, they both still live in a world that will continue to push Lincoln into taking lives. She fears Lincoln will go down that dark path once more and Slade is not doing them any favors with this stunt.

Though it didn't show on her face, Lucy was getting very angry. The Kent – Danvers trio looked as pleased as Lucy does and Lincoln looked passive.

"Then I guess, you'll have to say something else then, seeing as they're still alive, hurt but alive." As he sheepishly said those words, everyone looked and felt much more relieved.

Slade had an honest smile on his still bleeding face, "Now, would you mind if we took this back to your place, considering you're involved now." Slade said facing Clark, Karen and Conner.

The three looked to Clark as he agreed.

"Great, now, who'd like to help bring in my boys-" Lincoln immediately spoke up.

"Not it!" He and Lucy turn and walked back to the Kent house.

-**_XxX_**-

Kara had been worried sick, Conner took off without so much as a warning and Ma and Pa are trying to seem casual for her sake when they are just as frightened. Jonathan was pacing with a gun in hand, Martha was discreetly offering a prayer while Kara herself was floating aimlessly.

She really couldn't help it, she's in distress, she's alone with her aunt and uncle while her sister and cousins were off fight who-knows what as they try to help her new friends.

She slowly breaths in and out, attempting to relax herself before a knock at the door startles her.

She flies to the door against her uncle's warning, peeks out to see Lincoln, his clothes covered in bullet holes and some blood stains then without a second thought, she opens the door wide open to let him in.

What she saw after, Lincoln, next to Lucy who was carrying Salem but aside from that, there were two people floating near her, one masked and the other unmasked to reveal Beth.

Following Lincoln and Lucy were a bloodied Slade, Clark, Conner and Karen, each carrying a masked person.

Kara looks questioning towards Lincoln and Lucy, "So… I think I know what this is about but I gotta ask, what happened?"

Lincoln just looked to his girlfriend who shrugged, "Why do you think something happened?" He asked not waiting for an answer, "Oh right, six unconscious guys."

Kara just deadpans, "Well there's that and the shocking number of obvious bullet holes in your clothes, so I'm guessing there's a story here."

Lincoln retorts, "Well, all things considered, I think this is as about an average week night for me, but you mind if we come in? We kinda have some business with the lieutenant to get through."

Kara shrugs and left the door open as she retreated back into her home.

~X~

Slade is standing in front of Lincoln and Lucy who are flanked by the Kent – Danvers family, minus Jonathan, curious as to why Slade would attack their dinner guests.

Jonathan comes back with a nice white shirt that was about Lincoln's size and hands it to the man.

With a word of thanks, Lincoln accepts it and removes his ruined black shirt. He makes his way to the bathroom as the eyes of Lucy and Kara follow him with a slight blush.

Slade's men were piled up on the couch as almost everyone else were in the dining room.

"Now that I have you here, first, Jonathan, Martha, thank you for lending us your home and for your hospitality. Ms. Graves, I apologize for ruining yours and Mr. Park's evening here but this wasn't something we could just schedule in advanced." Slade starts.

Lucy spoke up, "Why did you attack us?" With this, Conner answered.

"He does this for everyone!" Conner seems to have some feelings behind this.

Lucy asks, "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"I'd like to know too." Everyone turned as Lincoln came back. "Also thanks for the shirt, I'll return it as soon as possi-" Jonathan held up a hand.

"Don't worry about it, this wasn't your fault." Pa Kent sent a slight glare to Slade.

Lincoln goes on, "So what was this about?"

"Right, you remember when I told you I don't like involving the civilians here, even if they're volunteers." Lincoln nods, "Well, the long-short of it is, a good chunk of the residents here in Smallville have powers, like you and Ms. Graves here.

After the incident in El Paso a while back, our number were nearly cut in half. Every one of my men have to pull double duty, patrol and scouting has been a lot harder, occasional pest control has gotten a lot riskier and that's without getting new, untrained non-combatants ready for the shit coming their way." He looks to Martha, "Apologies. Anyway, people here try to offer their services, thinking because they got powers, they're just what we need." He briefly looks to Conner then continues.

"So I put them through a little test, a trial by fire if you will. They take on a couple of my guys, maybe go a few rounds with me and you're in, if not, then you're not. And believe it or not, no one besides yourself has gotten past me in… ever, not even Clark here." Lincoln, shockingly looks to the big guy as he looks away.

"I know what you're thinking, what's so special about him, well, while you couldn't even put a scratch on this thing." He points to his chest plate, "Farm hand over here, nearly caved in my chest. Bullets bounced off him, rubber, metal, didn't matter, couldn't even cut him, unlike you, but a little incapacitating agent put him down quick."

Lucy, Kara and Conner were a bit lost before Lincoln spoke up, "Knockout gas." He stated with a dry tone as they nodded.

"When I heard what you and Ms. Graves did to the things that's been giving us trouble for the last month, the deathclaws as the locals call them." That got the family of six's attention.

Conner shouted, "Them? Those things are dead and… it was THEM?" To that, Slade nodded.

"Yes, in my scout's report, all five dead. One had been completely decapitated, another's head crushed into itself, I'll assume that was Ms. Grave's handy work." To that she nodded. "One had half of its face blown off, and the last two had the top portions of their head torn off, was that you Mr. Park?"

Lincoln responded, "Sort of, the big one was more of a combined effort." He smiled as Lucy elbowed him.

The Kent family was stunned, not horrified or afraid of the gruesome fate that befell the monsters, just a little shaken up that the group of three had taken care of their problem and didn't look worse for wear.

"When I sent my men after you, Francis broke formation and charged ahead, remind me to tear him a new one for that, we were supposed to draw your attention and split you up, we knew better than to charge at the both of you together or most of us did. _Fuckin Francis_." He muttered that last part silently.

"I have to say, I'm a little disappointed that Ms. Graves didn't end it right there." Lucy was silent but Lincoln saw her fists tightening.

"Are you disappointed to still be breathing, Lieutenant?" Lincoln sassed.

"Nonsense, but she knew, we were there to hunt maybe kill you both and the most she did was choke me out, a trained killer had more than enough time to get out of it. That inability to pull the trigger is bound to get you killed on the field." Lucy looked down as Lincoln gritted his teeth, "Killing monsters is one thing, people… when you hesitate with a person, you die, the moral high-ground is not a luxury one can afford in the battle for survival." Slade didn't say it to be mean and didn't even sound angry, more like a concerned individual who has had that experience but Lincoln really didn't want to hear this talk, not directed at Lucy anyway.

"I used to think that too, but that was a different time for us, but enough about that, you said you did this with everyone?" Lincoln asked, to get off the subject.

"Not everyone, just everyone who wanted to go on a job with us, Clark, Karen and Conner quite a number of times already," He chuckles to see Conner fuming at him.

"Them and everyone else with powers and out of everyone, you're the only one I like. I really like what I saw back there." Slade said with his eye narrowed.

Lincoln thought this would be a good time for a joke, "Look dude, I appreciate the compliment but I'm just not into you." He smirked but no one offered him a laugh, *****Sigh***** "Really? No one?"

*****Cough***** "I can tell you're not like everyone else, you didn't hesitate when you got serious, that's hard to find here. So if you'd like, the job's open and what we agreed on is still on the table." Slade said.

Lincoln looked to Lucy and nodded, "Yeah, I'm still in."

"Excellent, truth be told, I'm very interested to see what you'll do next, I've never seen an assortment of powers like yours Mr. Park, I look forward to working with you." Slade extended his hand.

Lincoln looked at it for a moment before shaking it.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln and Lucy headed out back into town as Slade and his men stayed with the Kents to talk.

Conner, Clark, Karen and Kara were talking to Slade, "I though he copied powers, what the hell was that back there?" Conner asked both Slade and Kara.

"I've seen power-thieves and leeches but that is something else, I saw quite a few things and I get the feeling that was only the tip of the iceberg." Slade throws in as Kara stared on in silent thought.

Clark spoke, "Obviously that's his story, if he doesn't wanna tell it, that's his deal. Let him keep his secrets, we've all got something to hide." He said before leaving for his bed.

'_I wonder what else he's hiding_?" Kara thought to herself.

-**Lincoln & Lucy**-

The two lovers walked along the dirt road for the second time as Lincoln lit the way. From his hands flew dozens of little orbs of light, each hovering like fireflies. It was more for her than him.

"Are you sure you're okay, Lucy?" Lincoln asks, worried she may be more injured than she let on.

"I told you, I'm fine." She said with no hostility, but reassurance.

Lincoln, the doting boyfriend, trying to tend to his girl and trying not to annoy her while making his concerns known, "But still-" He's stopped by Lucy.

"Sigh, if you're that worried, when we get back, you can inspect every inch of my body and see for yourself." She ended with a grin and a light blush as Lincoln did a double take, fumbling his words and just nodded.

Lucy continued their talk, "Aside from the unwelcomed interruption, you had a good time, right?"

"Yeah, they were cool, and seeing as there's another Ace Savvy fan here, this might be a good place to stay for a while." With that, Lucy began thinking about Kara.

"Also the food, I guess there are perks to being this close to the border, man, Mrs. Kent knew what she was doing with- THE LEFTOVERS!" Lincoln shouted now noticing neither were carrying it, "Aw man, we must've left it back-" Again he's stopped by Lucy.

She points to her shadow that darkened and a dark blob presented the tray of food that was given to them. "Thank you, Salem. Now what were you saying, *****"Never mind"***** what did Slade say about you agreeing on a deal before?"

"Right, well when he told me about a job, just pest control apparently, we worked out a deal. We're getting our baby back, fuel, spare parts, the works." He finished as Lucy's mouth widen with a grin

"That's right, Luce, the mighty Loud Hog #7 will ride once more."

**END**

* * *

**[Since I have some time to kill, I wanted to talk personalities. It's early for the story but the things I want to talk about aren't here yet and though I've got some much appreciated feedback from PM's about pacing, I'd like to know if I'm doing a decent (not great but decent) job so far.]**

**Lincoln: right now he's supposed to be all over the place, he wears a series of masks and the only time he shows vulnerability is in private moments with Lucy, he's haunted by the things he's done and puts on a front with anyone other than Lucy. He's supposed to be a sarcastic asshole or a playful dick to people he doesn't like but knows when to shut up with authorities. He needs to put up the good-boy Lincoln routine especially around parental figures. He emulates a bit of his sisters while trying to blend in and hold regular conversation. Overall he's a bit of a mess in private but in public he's different. He's a big dork who quotes movies and loves nerd crap, as of late he's more into star wars.**

**Lucy: in canon, she's on the nose with her goth persona, here she's dark and tortured for real and just doesn't announce it so often. After witnessing so many inhuman feats and a 'miracle' by Lincoln, she show a little too much interest in Lincoln almost like worship. Later she'll show more of herself when she's not with Lincoln.**

**Mr and Mrs Kent are the accepting, straight-laced parents.**

**Clark and Karen aren't really important to the story right now and are just modeled for the 'perfect' big brother and the overprotective, flirty older sister.**

**I'm kind of modeling Conner after the young justice season 1 superboy, except he's not part of a superhero team and just being a teenager who's barely dealing with his own issues and just ends up taking it out on everyone around him. Even though he's ooc, I'm trying to make him similar to his animated counterpart and not Conner bashing, I really like superboy and how he grew.**

**Kara is supposed to be that 'girl next door' for the nerd in me and we'll see more of her later.**

**I hope everyone is staying safe and indoors. See you next time.**


	10. Chapter 9

**[Disclaimer: I don't own the Loud House or anything really, and that's sad]**

Posted 7/4/2020

* * *

-Chapter 9-

Lincoln stares up to the ceiling. He's currently alone, Lucy's out with Kara again, leaving him to think.

It's been about 10 days since first arriving in Smallville.

Lincoln's had an… eventful week. The day after his dinner date with the Kents, the people of Smallville either stare at him or avoid him.

He hears whispers among Slade's men and when he meets their eyes, they turn away.

Everyone seems to treat Lucy alright, but a lot of people look concerned with him. Lincoln was indifferent, nothing bad happened since the other night but some of the business owners had treated him nicer. Some deals, a bit of courtesy and even got a temp job at the local bar.

Curfew had been lifted and people seemed a little more at ease that's when things got a little weird for him. As it turns out, Karen is a regular at Smallville's only bar and now that known drifter 'Lincoln Park' was tending, she aimed to test his knowledge on cocktails and the limits of his patients.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

Word had gotten around that Lincoln was a merc and was asked to be a bouncer at first but when the tender at the time (a 20 year old boy) was asked by, and you guessed it, Karen, to make a Sea Breeze, the kid seemed stunned, like he was asked to perform a coronary artery bypass graft by Lisa.

The kid didn't look like he knew what he was doing and Karen looked so pleased with herself, Lincoln just had to him out.

"Start with a highball glass, ice, 8 parts cranberry juice, 3 parts vodka, 2 parts OJ and serve with a lime, kid." Lincoln called out to him while leaning against a doorframe, in his black shirt and shades… at night.

The kid flashed a grateful smile and got to it.

As soon as Karen is served her drink, she turns to Lincoln and winks.

"Nice save, shades. So what's a good looking bar like you doing in a guy like this?" She giggles at her own joke as Lincoln throws in a pity chuckle.

"Well, word gets around and apparently I've been hired as a bouncer."

"So you decided to look the part or do you normally dress like what you assume tough guys looked like in the 80's."

"Ooh, burn." He pauses as he looks at the kid serving beer on tap. "So uh, the kid's awfully young to be manning the counter like that."

"Says the guy who knows what goes into a Sea Breeze, speak for yourself, _kid_." Karen comments, narrowing her eyes in fake suspicion.

"I'll have you know, I've worked at this kind of establishment for some time." Lincoln says with a hint of pride.

"I thought you were just a merc."

"I moonlight as a bartender." He sees her give a 'really' look, "What? I can do other things, who says I can't?"

Karen shrugs before she spoke again, "So, not that you asked but we used to have a few of these places in town but after the you-know-what came up, everything went out of business, until we got this system; what doesn't come through the walls we make ourselves, it's too dangerous to go back and forth to other places and trade.

Now we got all the booze set up in one place and all the old owners are dead or something." She finishes as Lincoln spoke up.

"That simple huh?"

"It was pretty bad at first, mead was easy, but it sucked, no one knew what they were doing for like the first year after supplies ran dry."

Lincoln quickly spoke up, "Hey don't sleep on mead, y'know Vikings drank mead. I also used that argument to make drinking honey and fruity meads less of a question on my sexuality and more of a 'how badass am I'." He said with smug confidence.

"Tch, okay 'badass', so anyway, after people got it together and started using science and shit, it started tasting… less crappy but now it's okay."

"Either that or you've gotten used to 'bad' and now it's okay." To that Karen rolled her eyes, "So how would you know the good stuff from bad, weren't you like a teen or something before the walls came up?"

"Or something," She muttered that but Lincoln heard, "I snuck a few nips back when I was a growing up, don't judge, but yeah, I've got a taste for it and it's fun messing with newbies who don't anything."

"I'll give you that-" And as he tied talking, a fight broke out between some of Slade's men, it didn't take much effort to restrain them and after getting them outside, everything went back to normal.

He'd see Karen order a lot of summer drinks, things you'd drink in the day time and other brightly colored drinks, he'd also seen her put away nearly a gallon of beer as she stumbled and drag two guys with her on her way out.

He was about to approach her until the kid manning the bar told him, it was a regular thing with her.

~X~

The next day, the same kid who Karen was teasing wasn't doing so hot and really needed to go. Lincoln didn't know what his problem was but after 10 minutes, no one was manning the bar and people were getting testy.

Lincoln took it upon himself to start serving.

He was impressed, there were clear labels for everything and even prices, he was paid in either cash or credits. It was evident that the town was self-sustaining, they made their own products even with only a little provided from outside the walls.

Lincoln had fun. Mixing drinks, listening to people complain or just ramble and then Karen walked in.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here, from bouncer to bartender? Aren't you moving up the corporate ladder, but for real, you're in charge tonight?"

"Apparently! So what'll it be?" He asked.

"Hmm, how about you surprise me." Lincoln shrugged and started throwing things together.

He presented a tall glass with a brightly colored drink, "I give you, a tequila sunrise." The bottom was bright red and went to a bright orange as it got to the top, filled with ice and garnished with a cherry: a dark, non-maraschino cherry, and a slice of orange on the edge.

Karen's eyes lit up, literally.

"Ooh," She's in awe as she flutters her eyes and looks to Lincoln with a wicked smirk. "It looks pretty good and such a pretty drink would definitely be on the house for a pretty girl, wouldn't you agree." She said pushing her chest out more, accentuating her sizable bust.

"Couldn't agree more, do you know any?" He gets a laugh out of her as she hands over a few bucks.

Lincoln continues to serve drinks, occasionally mixing something else for Karen, who tries to stump him, with no success but she did see a wide assortment of cocktails.

At her request, Lincoln had brought out screwdrivers, martinis, gin and tonic, daiquiri, rum and coke (hold the coke), weirdly enough she asked for a pimm's cup but was confused when it was served in a tall glass.

"I thought it was supposed to come in like, a chalice or something." Karen says not sure what to expect.

"That's a pimp cup." Lincoln says deadpanned as the excitement of bartending had lost its charm.

"Oh, do you think you could…"

"Put your pimm's cup in a pimp cup." He finishes.

"Would you mind?" She rhetorically asks.

"There isn't one here." He flatly states as she looked down, he sighs deeply and looks around, no one's looking.

Under the counter, his hands gain a misty aura, ice starts to form and rapidly grow. It shapes itself into a cup, a chalice.

As he places it on the table, he pours the pimm's cup glass into the ice-carved chalice and slides it over to Karen as she looks at it wide-eyed.

The thing was beautiful with a capital B. It had carved ridges that looked like jewels, the 'glass' part was clear but thick and sturdy, the handle was slim and frosted, the bottom was a deep blue.

"It's almost too beautiful to drink." Karen says in awe of what Lincoln made for her.

"So, are you refusing?" He asks, probably knowing the answer.

"HA! Ain't _that_ beautiful." She then picks up the icy cold glass and guzzles down her drink and as she slams the ice-chalice on the table, maybe testing the durability, she politely asks for another as Lincoln now notices a blush on her face.

'_Is she just NOW getting shit-faced_?' He says in his head after seeing how much she's put away already.

He goes back to tending the other patrons as he looks back to Karen every so often, he notices she removed her jacket and every so often, very un-discretely tugs at her tank top while smirking at Lincoln, even winking at him and licking her lips.

Some time had passed until a guy showed up, pissed and stopped to see Lincoln, he calmed down real quick and just took a seat at the bar, ordered a few rounds and just kept to himself. Lincoln didn't pay it any mind but then Karen got his attention again.

Her eyes were glossed over, either she was loaded or her powers were lighting up her eyes again, he was betting on the former.

She was leaning on the table, head down when she called over to him, "H-hey, hey funny-man, tell me a joke." She slurred a little but he just shrugged.

'_Luan, don't fail me now_.' "Alright, I got one. My friends overseas tell me they don't like American beer, can you believe that." Karen just shakes her head 'no'. "So I ask them why, they tell me it's like sex in a canoe," Karen perks up, "I ask them, what do you mean and you know what they tell me?" He ask as she shakes her head 'no', "They said it's fucking close to water."

As he made that punchline, Karen snickered, it turned into a chuckle and that turned into a roaring laughter.

It had her going for a while and left him alone as the guy from earlier made his way to Lincoln. As it turns out, he was the guy that was called to fill in for the kid who left and _wouldn't_ be coming back, ever.

He was impressed with Lincoln, so he just let him keep working, nobody had any problems but was going to have to send Lincoln home, they were closing up early for… reasons, that was all he gave the merc.

Lincoln gave the heads up for Last Call and after getting to everyone else, Karen called him over for one last request.

"Do you know what I'd like Linky?" He flinched at that nick-name.

"N-no, what?" He stutters.

"I… would LOVE… a blowjob, how about you?" She ended with a wink. If he had a drink, he'd spit it out as she giggled, like that playful kind of giggle he heard the girls at school do.

"Uh… that's not-"

"Y'know, the drink *****"Oh"***** but I like mine extra special." She smirked as she walked him through the instructions. It was red on the bottom from grenadine, dark on top from coffee liqueur.

The last ingredient called for whipped cream but there was none, until she told him about a can under the counter next to the baseball bat.

And found it he did, "You've worked here before haven't you?"

"Guilty." She said so plainly.

"And why would they let you go, you must've been popular?"

"Oh like you wouldn't believe, but I got caught taking one too many freebies and was labeled things like _unprofessional_ and had _poor impulse control_, eh, no skin off my nose."

"… Well anyway, here you go, a Strawberry Blowjob." As he slid Karen her shot glass but was confused as to why she didn't just down it already.

She sat back and stuffed the shot glass in the gap of her thighs. He paused, '_The fuck_?'

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"The fuck is this?"

"Well Linky, what does it look like, I'm giving you a blowjob." She said holding in her laughter.

"Yeaaah… I don't do… that."

"What, have fun?"

"Drink, I don't drink, anymore." He muttered that last part.

"What, got a drinking problem or something?" She sassed.

"Sort of… can't get drunk." He just blurted.

"Well yeah, it's just one, I need like 20 of these before I feel _something_, got a bit of tolerance thanks to my, you-know-what."

"I just can't. No matter how much I have," He gives her time to process as her eyes widen, "It's been like that for over a year now."

She listens to this like she just heard all his friends died.

"Wow, I mean… shit, *****"yeah"***** but then again," She hummed, "What's the harm in having one before bed then, no harm no foul, right?"

He deadpans at her, but she just smirks and doesn't budge, he really needs to go and let the guy clean up so what the hell right.

He sighs as he walks around the counter and gets on his knees, Karen leans back, pushes her hips outward and she's just smirking.

By the skin of his teeth, Lincoln snatches the shot glass from Karen's thighs and downs it lightning fast.

Waiting for him to swallow, Karen lets out a hearty moan, "Mmmhhhhaa," as Lincoln looks back at her like she's crazy.

"Was it as good for you as it was for me?" She flashes him a toothy grin as he rolls his eyes.

"Sure." He says with all the enthusiasm of a stone-mason.

~X~

Lincoln walks away from the bar with Karen holding onto his arm for support, she was stumbling and as he offered to take her home she latched onto him, no hesitation.

"I was wondering, maybe we could just take this back to your place for the night, I can get you an even better BJ, I promise." She slurred, "My secret, there's no drink." She whispered and giggled.

"Aaaand we just found The Line, look Karen, I'm with Lucy, *****"Doesn't bother me"***** also, you're drunk, *****"You're sexy"***** true, but that doesn't change the fact that you can't even walk straight." He says with a glare leveled at her.

"Maybe, but don't let that stop you, it never stopped me before, besides, I have been told that I'm even better when I've h-had a few in me before I _get a few_ in me, ha."

Lincoln's glare didn't go away, "Look I'm serious about Lucy, sh-."

"And she can watch, hell, she can get in on it too. I wanna know what you're pack-" She blacks out before she could finish. Lincoln lifted his fingers from her forehead as she slumped over.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, now I gotta carry this lush back to her place!" He quietly screams to himself as he lifted her over his shoulder and sped to the Kent – Danvers house and called it a night.

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

He told Lucy who looked mixed on the subject, well more like she looked unchanged but Lincoln could feel her shifting inside, was she expecting something to happen, did she _want_ something to happen, did she want in, what? She just wouldn't tell him what was on her mind.

The next time the two saw Karen, she acted nonchalant about the whole thing, completely unapologetic and even openly flirted with both Lincoln and Lucy.

When they told Kara about it, she seemed a little bitter, maybe a sore subject and as it turns out, Karen is just like that, she mostly keeps it under control but every now and again she just drinks herself under the table and wakes up with someone new in bed, sometimes two or more at a time, guys and girls alike, even some of Kara's former classmates.

Moving on, the day after was the job for Slade.

The morning after he returned Karen to her home, Lincoln hoped the fence and at top speed, ran all the way back to the place he hid his bike, the Loud Hog#7. Not too worse for wear.

It was a custom build in the style of a v-rod. The base was black, the trim was amethyst and some orange highlights. Lincoln and Lucy went through phases in between bikes, different styles, experimenting with color schemes, Lucy really loved the midnight-blue chopper, like _really_ loved it.

Loud Hog#7 is unlike 1-6, they've been totaled, wrecked, stolen and outright destroyed. #7 has stayed around the longest by 11 months, so many monsters have gone after their bike, Lincoln thinks they're cursed, never to enjoy a good ride without an incident.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

Lincoln carried his baby into town within the next hour. The first person to notice him was Conner, Lincoln winked and just walked past him.

He saw Lucy and Kara just hanging out and as Lucy turned, Lincoln swore she cracked the biggest smile in… ever. That made his day by far.

Kara was mesmerized, she really hadn't seen a motorcycle at least not one so close and a new best-friend who'd maybe let her ride it, possibly.

He met Karen on the way, a bit of back and forth with her whispering, "Maybe you can give me a ride sometime, big boy." She left with a wink as Lincoln kept going without looking back.

As soon as he got to the sheriff's department, he left the bike with the quartermaster, when Lincoln came back, he'd have the tools and parts as requested.

He also spotted 'the kid', he was being escorted by two of Slade's men, '_Hmm, looks like someone's in trouble, maybe playing ball by the streets again_.' He thought as he moved on.

-_**XxX**_-

Lincoln was lined up with three other guys, each dressed in identical uniforms. One he recognized, Francis, now that he got a good look at him, Francis had dark brown hair, fair skin tone and grey eyes, nothing remarkable to Lincoln.

Another was a tall bastard, bald, light-skinned and on the heavy side. The last guy was kind of short and skinny, had a helmet and everything.

Each one armed to the teeth, while Lincoln just had the clothes on his back.

Slade started, "Alright, as you four know, this is a simple search and destroy. Too many B.O.W's close by and scouts report them being hostile. We have reason to believe someone's herding them together.

As you can see, Mr. Park will be joining us, some of us can vouch that he will not hesitate to act in our best interest and I have verified him to be an asset.

Your destination has been explained earlier and you know your objective, questions." Slade ended.

Francis stepped forward because of course, why not. He looked to Lincoln and the latter saw bruises over his face that he knows he's not given him.

"I know… he's coming with us but just us five?"

Slade responds, "I believe he's all we'll need, you got extra ammo, food, gear, what else do you need?"

"How about him taking this seriously, look at him, I'm carrying guns, 3 you can see, he's got nothing, just rolled in empty handed."

Lincoln spoke up, "Didn't need any last night, Frankie." He quipped as Slade smirked.

"He's got you there, Frankie." Francis gritted his teeth.

"Last night was a practice ambush, with the bare minimum, I'm decked out with my best gear for what we're after, what's he gonna do when too many are on him?"

The question was asked to Slade but was aimed at Lincoln and thus he responded, "I'll just grab whatever you got, worked just fine for me when there were more of you."

"And how'll you get it?"

"I'll just take it from you, wouldn't be hard." He states bluntly.

Francis looked to Slade as he nods and Francis gains a look of vindication.

Francis pulls a standard chrome 1911 on Lincoln, "What are you gonna do about tha-"

He didn't get to finish, Lincoln swiped it, ejected the clip, popped the one in the chamber and struck the butt of his gun at Francis' throat, making him fall over, coughing and hacking.

"Oh that's real nice, I almost felt your neck cave in. What else you got?" Lincoln said as he went over to Francis and started pulling gun after gun from his holsters.

"Ooh, a magnum, that's a big boy's gun, why do you have it?" He reaches over and pulls off the rest, a tiny one from the back pocket, two full automatics from his thigh holsters, "I bet you're the douchebag that has an ankle strap," He checked both pant legs and wouldn't you know it, there was one, "Yep, there we are. So when you're done messing around, let's get this over with."

Lincoln looked to the other two just staring in worry, "You two wanna try your luck?" He asked as they shake their heads 'no', "Good." He turns to Slade, "Satisfied?"

Slade only nods, "You could've picked up a few things when offered, why turn them down?"

Lincoln shrugs, "I'm going in with what I need, everyone else brought extras, I'll make do."

"Like the attitude, but let's keep it practical, want to make sure you come out alive."

"And rob you the chance to see what else I'm hiding. Pretty sure, word about me got around, maybe you're hoping you'll see something more?" Lincoln asks as Slade raised an eyebrow, "I'll have you know, I'm efficient and quick about my business, there won't be much to find out."

"Well, so long as it gets done. I brought enough spares for everyone. Now, on your feet Frankie, we're moving out!"

-**_XxX_**-

Slade, Francis, their two extra's and Lincoln ride in an armored vehicle.

Outside the window, there were corpses. Remains from presumably what the five were after.

Francis got his guns back. The big, quiet guy was just minding his own business, skinny was driving and Slade was talking to Lincoln.

"So, my scouts told me we're after groups of animals but they all seem off."

Lincoln questions, "How _off_?"

"Some look like our typical B.O.W's, bigger, weirder and they got some kind of growth attached to them." Lincoln leaned in for more details, "No sure what he meant, the moment his team got close, they got hostile, but when they picked them apart from a distance, they didn't seem to care."

"You said it was extermination?"

"Yeah, they're getting too close to other towns and their hostile, what's weirder isn't the number but the make-up." Lincoln looked confused, "It's not just one kind of thing, there's lots of different things. Local wild life and exotic animals, I suspect from abandoned zoo's, my men reported a gorilla and a few tigers in their ranks."

Lincoln nods before skinny speaks up.

"Alright, we're here!"

Lincoln and the rest stepped out of the armored vehicle, Lincoln had a radio and a sniper rifle.

~X~

It was easy. After a 2 hour ride, they left the vehicle and a 10 minute trek later, the boys found what they were looking for.

They found a nest? A heard? A big fucking group of animals at the bottom of a small valley.

Lots of them looked way bigger than typical animals you could've found in the wild or zoo. They must've been radiated, maybe even mutants or to Slade and his men, B.O.W's.

There were stags, bears, deer, rabbits, foxes, moose etc. Most of them were bigger than their 'normal' looking counterparts, some had patches of fur missing and torn skin exposing the muscles underneath.

Come to think of it, there weren't many animals in Smallville that weren't birds or squirrels. Did nobody have a pet? Where were the cats and… dogs?

Lincoln spied a big white wolf, staring out and walking around.

The other four needed binoculars, Lincoln had no such thing but he spoke up first.

"You see the things around their necks?" Lincoln pointed out, the rest looked on.

Around the necks of each of the creatures were some kind of collar, if they could be called that. It was fleshy, seemed to be oozing and had two long… eyes(?) protruding from the backside, looking all over the place. To be honest they looked like snail eyes.

Another look into the actual creature's eyes shown they were all blank and unresponsive.

Francis spoke up, "So whoever's moving them, slapped collars on them, maybe a mutant, Lieutenant?"

"Maybe but we have a job to do. Put them down and we'll flush out the one controlling them."

This startled Lincoln but then again, until or unless he could find the one responsible, they needed to be put down so no one else gets hurt.

~X~

They were split into teams of two. Slade, his two unnamed extra's and Lincoln and Francis. Both teams on opposite sides of the nest, they were using rifles to get the bigger ones and when they were hiding, the five would purse at a closer distance.

Lincoln must've hit a dozen or so, all headshots, they went down. Francis hit a good chunk but then they started hiding.

Lincoln and Francis heard their radios go.

**[**Alright, it's go time!**]** They heard Slade's voice.

~X~

Lincoln and Francis met the rest of the squad and shot just about every one of the creatures they found.

The four military personnel used their guns, Lincoln formed ice spike in his hands and shot them out, aiming for the head.

They were sure that they had only gotten about a third but something was up.

Where were the more exotic ones that Slade had been warned about an-

There was a rumbling underground. Lincoln closed his eyes and they snapped open in a panic.

"Move NOW!" He yelled but the ground burst and out flew dozens of… rats, moles and sub-terrain animals. Each gigantic in stature and each looked deadly "Dammit!" Lincoln seethed as he pointed a hand at the split earth and out flew ice that covered most of the open entrance.

The ice grew and crept until it covered the openings, keeping more from coming through.

Francis raised a gun in Lincoln's direction and fired off a round ***BANG***

The bullet missed Lincoln's head and made its way into the chest of a bear that Lincoln was sure had been dead.

The bear stumbled back and roared, just as the other downed B.O.W's had all risen, each with open headshots but still going on.

Lincoln in a moment of comic book logic had shot at the 'collar'. Nothing, nothing happened, the 'collar' had been pierced and broken, only for it to regrow like nothing happened.

The other four kept unloading hot lead onto the 'downed' but walking creatures.

Lincoln knew it was not ideal and saw that Slade was thinking the same.

"Fall back, regroup!" Slade called out.

Lincoln took it upon himself to act as the distraction, freezing limbs in ice after finding he couldn't shut them down with his _magic touch_.

Lincoln led the creatures away and lost them but quickly found the big white wolf stalking him. Lincoln noticed but it didn't matter, so long as it didn't draw the others, Lincoln needed to act fast.

He could've just obliterated the damned thing but something in him just wouldn't have it. He stopped in his tracks as he waited.

A moment went by before the wolf pounced at Lincoln and with a skillful dodge, the beast missed Lincoln.

Getting a closer look, Lincoln was astounded by the physique of the wolf. Pristine white fur, even if some of the skin was torn and muscles exposed, it was downright beautiful. The only thing that was out of place was the steel blue eye that looked lifeless.

Everything about the wolf seemed animated but what really got Lincoln's attention was that weird collar and that's what he went for.

Lincoln's arms gained a metallic coating and let the wolf get a hold of his arm with its teeth.

The creature chomped down but could break the skin. Lincoln took the opportunity to rip the collar off the wolf. The creature reeled back, thrashing but eventually the collar regrew and had hold of the wolf again.

"Damn it, really thought that'd work." Lincoln said as the beast was over him again.

Lincoln was getting fed up and froze the wolf's legs to the ground and ceased its movements. Just to see if it would work, Lincoln pressed his fingers to the wolf's head but nothing happened.

Lincoln sighed and saw the fleshy collar twitch as the 'eyes' looked at him, the thing was really unnerving but he got an idea.

Lincoln grabbed the collar but didn't rip it off, he froze it and as ice formed over it, he could hear some kind of screeching coming from the collar. He saw the wolf go limp and took the opportunity to pull the thing off.

What Lincoln didn't expect was to pull out a long slimy plant thing from the wolf's body as blood poured from the now open wounds.

The weird plant was red and it pulsated before going limp and withering away.

Lincoln unfroze the wolf's legs as he tried to check its- his (he saw what was there) vitals as best as he could but then he found a pulse and the body twitched.

The wolf sprang up and jumped away from Lincoln. Lincoln wasn't the empath, he couldn't calm it down but saw the confusion and panic of its now lit eyes.

Lincoln held up his hands and carefully approached the creature. The wolf hadn't lost its stature or physique, it really was a B.O.W from the start.

The wolf looked at Lincoln a short time as it calmed down while gazing into Lincoln's powerful, glowing, golden-amber eyes, eyes that held authority.

The two hadn't 'said' anything as they each turned and walked off.

It's not as if they could talk to each other, but Lincoln saw resolve, the wolf was free and Lincoln knew what needed to be done.

Unfortunately he hadn't seen some… _thing_ far away from the two, too far for Lincoln to 'feel' or sense but it was watching Lincoln.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln had regrouped with Slade and his men but soon found himself in an argument with Francis.

"If you could have killed it, why didn't you?" Francis demanded.

"I didn't need to! They're being controlled and he didn't attack, I think that's a good reason why!" Lincoln shouted back.

Slade spoke up, "Enough, both of you."

"I thought he wouldn't _hesitate_, Slade. What good is he when he can't even pull the trigger?"

Francis walked off to their camp.

Lincoln stood back with Slade, they shared a look and Slade nodded in understanding or so Lincoln hoped.

Lincoln was in deep thought, he knows if he had to, he'd kill without a second thought, that's just how it went.

He's had years to think it over, question himself and judge his past actions.

He came to the conclusion that the past is the past and if he was going to distance himself from it, he had to make better choices and be better than he was.

When Lincoln came back from the dead, he didn't change his ways right then and there.

There was a transitional period, he had time to think clearly on the decisions he made that brought him to that moment.

He always told himself in the moment of the kill, that he was doing for his and Lucy's survival but if he was going to continue that line of thought (for Lucy), he really needed to think about how Lucy saw him and act in the way that would deem him fit to be her brother or at this point her lover.

Youth and naiveté can only excuse so much in the beginning, but as a grown ass man, Lincoln knows he made his own choices and has to own up to them by taking responsibility for his actions.

If you want to be a better person, you have to make better choices.

With that, Lincoln HAD no regrets in letting the wolf go.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln had volunteered for first watch but as he would learn, Slade would never let anyone do anything he wouldn't do first.

After was Francis, no trust between them. Currently was the big quiet guy, he still never heard a name for him.

Lincoln had not fallen asleep at any point. He didn't need much of it and sometimes it was hard just to fall asleep, especially when he has plenty of energy.

*****Shuck*** ***Thud*****

Lincoln sprang up.

*****Shuck*** ***Thud*** ***Shuck*** ***Thud*****

He heard it two more times. It was dark, not pitch dark but dark enough for a decent ambush, on anyone but Lincoln.

Lincoln saw Francis stir awake and he saw something shoot towards Francis.

In that moment Lincoln jumped over Francis and took the hit for him.

Something struck Lincoln's back as it pinched and dug into his skin. Something had crawled into him, it was painful but through that pain he got up and dragged the now conscious Francis away for cover behind the armored vehicle.

Lincoln heard Francis breathing hard but he also heard something on his back screech in pain. He pulled at the thing on his back and felt it tug on his spine as he slowly pulled it out of him.

The wound closed and he saw the plant wither and shriveled until it was just scraps.

Francis didn't know what to make of it.

"Fucking parasites." Lincoln muttered, he hates these kinds of things.

The two look around the vehicle to see their three downed men get back up but they look unresponsive as those fleshy collars constrict their necks.

Lincoln was about to make his way to them, knowing how to deal with this when he felt a large group approach.

He was alerted to a loud thumping and looked over to see a giant gorilla an on its shoulder was a humanoid figure. It was draped in vines and had an eye on the center of its face.

Out stretched limbs made of vegetation pointed to the three men as they stood at attention.

Lincoln suggested a retreat until day time and Francis was about to argue but then Lincoln shushed him and a noise grabbed their attention.

A large group of controlled creatures had approached from behind. They were surrounded, Lincoln could probably get out easy but making it with Francis would not be easy.

With his 'usual', partner away, Lincoln had to consider the safety of his non-mutant companion.

Lincoln saw Francis pull out his pistol and aim it straight at the nearest creature.

"Wait, don't." Lincoln told him.

"What, we need to take care of this now."

"You're only wasting ammo, they won't go down, they're just husks for those parasites and I think their boss is here now."

"Whatever, we still need to get aw-" He's cutoff to a noise.

***BAM***

The armored vehicle was punched away by the gorilla. The big ape knelt as the plant monster, thing dropped down.

*****Khhyssh***** It was inaudible but Lincoln got the feeling it wasn't friendly as it saw it real its head back and… for lack of a better word, spit out a dart of some kind at Lincoln, only for him to dodge.

Lincoln could anticipate it, no problem.

The plant monster understood it could not hit its target and hissed. The prone creatures stood and advanced on the two as the plant-monster continued spitting darts at Lincoln.

With no choice the two started shooting back.

Lincoln aimed for the monster with a flurry of condensed balls of fire, firebolts, to kill the thing quickly.

'_If Pokémon taught me anything, this should be super effective_!' The plant thing was hit by the bolts of fireballs and wailed in agony, the controlled creatures writhed in pain along.

This gave the two the chance to escape. As they fled, they were being pursued by the pack, plant darts still being launched by the monster. One made its way to Francis as Lincoln caught it and within his hands it ignited as Lincoln chucked it back, missing but he didn't care.

In an open clearing, they felt safe, until Lincoln felt a mass rush to them. The gorilla had flown overhead crashing near the two, it raised its arms and brought them down at Francis in an attempt to crush him but Lincoln caught the arms.

At that moment he felt one, two, three darts enter his back. The pain was deep but like earlier, they screeched out in pain before dying.

The controlled gorilla relented and let Lincoln fall to his knees to pull the things out his back but felt himself being pulled and thrown by Francis.

He saw it in slow motion, Francis was struck by the gorilla.

Francis took the hit for him and was smashed into a tree, a loud crunch was heard.

Lincoln quickly pulled the plant darts from his back and blasted the gorilla's legs with ice, pinning it to the ground but it was smashing away at the ice.

Lincoln made it to Francis, he was conscious and in agonizing pain.

"Just Leave… help the Lieutenant… FINISH THE JOB!" Francis shouted.

Lincoln had a choice to make and his options were shrinking by the moment, the rest were closing in, if he took Francis and moved at full speed, they could make it out but Francis might not be able to handle the force of his movement and they may lose the rest of their group.

He could always just leave him and the others but that wasn't the right thing to do and if he were to make his stand here, he'd have to kill everything else, regardless if they were being controlled.

He had to make a choice and each one had their own cost to it.

The silverette relented, in one hand, there was a glow as light condensed and grew into a long and narrow shaft, the edges sharpened and the thing glowed white with a faint glittering yellow.

He was holding a long, thin sword made of light, he was ready for action.

Lincoln was ready to choo-

***BAWOOO*** There was this force, a sound that blew away a large chunk of the pack and even kicked up the dirt around Lincoln and Francis.

From the shadows came the big white wolf. It stood guard in front of Lincoln and the downed Francis.

Lincoln and the wolf looked at one another as the man nodded and the animal looked forward to their adversaries.

Lincoln, dispelled his energy-sword and made two clones, burning through a lot of stamina, he felt a little winded and wanted to take a breather but no, he needed to end this quick.

The wolf, Lincoln and clone 1 were lined up ready to fight.

Clone 2 was tending to Francis, removing his top clothing to show a large bruise, felt his chest and 'knew' two ribs were broken and one punctured something.

"He's hurt bad, he needs help now!" Clone 2 shouted as Lincoln and clone 1 nodded.

Soon the pack came back in full.

Lincoln saw the wolf's snout split apart into four sections to reveal its throat muscles, it was gross but fascinating all the same to Lincoln.

The first wave ran forward as the wolf unleashed a devastating sonic howl.

***BAWOOO*** The first wave was blown away just as the two Lincolns shot forward and restrained every creature, encasing them in ice or having the ground swallow limbs, holding them in place.

The process repeated for the second wave but the third wave consisted of Tigers and the gorilla.

Clone 1 shot bolts of electricity at the tigers while Lincoln coated his arms in armor and had a go at the ape.

Used to taking on bigger opponents, Lincoln made use of his smaller, quicker frame, weaving and dodging swipes and struck back putting the enlarged ape on its knees, then freezing it in place.

Lincoln, ready to go after the plant thing ducked under a bullet. It was shot by Slade, who was under the monsters control.

"Dammit!" Now he has to worry about this, "Alright take them down, soft." He told his clone who nodded.

Lincoln drew their attention as his clone approached from behind, he was ready to strike when he was hit by a flurry of darts, as he looked back to the monster who aimed behind itself, ***BANG*** one gunshot to the chest had him blur from existence.

"Fuck, I'm not getting that back." He was a little winded from splitting himself three ways, he did not want to lose them so soon.

As the three turned their attention to Lincoln, he was getting ready to dodge but then ***BAWOOO*** another howl from the wolf blew the three back and Lincoln could see the plant thing stumble back.

This was his chance, crouching slightly, Lincoln took off at top speed, maybe even faster than before. In the blink of an eye, Lincoln's hand had the monster's head in a vice and as it tried to squirm out of his grip it was lit on fire.

***GYYAAAAH*** It screeched as it was immolated, Lincoln refused to let go, letting his arm glow red as the thing fried. Finally when it stopped moving, Lincoln let go and returned to his other clone, tending to Francis.

Clone 2 explained the situation to Lincoln and then they began. Getting a first-aid kit from the vehicle, Lincoln made a scalpel from ice, it was sharp and precise, like he's done this before.

With practiced skill, Lincoln and his clone made the tools and cuts necessary to _operate_ on Francis. They pulled and reset the broken ribs, Lincoln formed a ball of water in his hands and pressed it into Francis' punctured lung and as he pulled the ball of water back out, he pulled out the excess blood that filled the lungs.

Lincoln then created a thin, hollow tube of ice and inserted it into the lung, then froze over the incision not suturing it, Francis needed real help at town and Lincoln would help keep him alive and out of danger until then.

Just as Lincoln finished up on Francis, his eyes snapped wide open as a figure jumped out to him.

The charred, not dead remains of the plant creature lunged at Lincoln but- ***BAWOOO*** the sonic howl of the wolf blew the thing into pieces, pieces that Lincoln set on fire and made sure it was burned into nothing.

Afterwards, he heard a symphony of screeching and looked to the controlled animals/creatures/B.O.W's

-**_XxX_**-

After pulling the last of the parasitic plants from each creature and person, the two of Slade's men looked to him asking what to do next. Lincoln was worried he'd tell them their _job_ wasn't done yet.

"It seems we're done here, boys. Lincoln's taken care of the pests and with that… thing gone, we'll have to call in some assistance about these strays, luckily, they don't seem hostile." Slade says as the majority of the creatures just wander off in peace.

Slade continues, "I'll radio the next base over and tell them to be on the lookout, what they do is their choice, agreed?" He asks as everyone nods, Lincoln figured the animals may or may not be safe but at least it was something.

Unfortunately, most of the creatures, the men put down earlier were dead, just empty vessels for the plant thing's parasites to inhabit, that still didn't sit right with Lincoln, they were all victims but he helped kill them in the first place.

"Let's get Francis back to base, they'll look after him. You saved his life Mr. Park, you have my thanks." Slade finished as Lincoln nods to him.

They packed up, carrying Francis back to the vehicle and as Lincoln was about to enter, he looked back and saw the wolf with a good number of the other animals with him.

"I suppose you're going to look after them now?" Lincoln asks, knowing he can't get an answer but even still, he feels like the wolf knows.

Lincoln peers into the steel blue eyes of his… friend (?) who came back to help, maybe to repay a debt or maybe something more.

"Thank you." Lincoln nods solemnly as the wolf seems to bow and walk off.

Lincoln smiled and called it a day.

While in the Vehicle, the big guy tends to Francis as Slade drives, skinny was preparing meds, to keep Francis under. Lincoln informed them the ice tube he made won't melt for some time, especially more so now that he was close. One thing was on Lincoln's mind, '_This wasn't __**unusual**__, he didn't __**need**__ me for this. What's your angle, Slade_?' Lincoln thinks as he sits, waiting to come back to Lucy.

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

After that, Lincoln had gotten a bit of a reputation among the soldiers, especially Slade's men. Lincoln had been informed, he's fought with them and save their own, that makes him one of them. That made him smile.

After a trip to the visiting room of a vastly understaffed hospital, Lincoln visited Francis, he'd be out of commission for a while but he actually got a Thank You out of it.

Then he started taking grunt assignments with some of the special-forces, like the other day when he went to an observatory with Beth. Things got a little weird between them.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

Lincoln was on the outskirts of Smallville with Beth, on top of a tall building when she leans over to him, "Hey!"

"Yeah?"

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

Lincoln responds, "It's one of life's great mysteries isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence, or is there really a God watching everything? You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know but it keeps me up at night." He ends as Beth stares at him in silence.

"I meant, why are we up here, sweatin' under the sun, when we could be down there in the shade."

Lincoln's eye open when he realized what he actually said, "Oh, uh yeah."

Beth looks at him, "What's was all that stuff about God?"

"Nothing, forget it." He shuts her down and the two just stood in silence, until.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

They left it at that. There was an awkward silence between the two for a long time until his shift was over. Ever since then, whenever the two met, they'd look away before engaging in casual conversation, trying to pretend nothing happened.

For Beth, it wasn't so much about what was said but rather Lincoln opening up out of nowhere and presumably had his feelings disregarded and when she tried to show interest, he pulled away.

For Lincoln, he sort of slipped up with the whole 'self-looking inward' thing and failed at playing it off, now he thinks she thinks he was trying to be profound and just came off as weird.

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

Nothing like the 'extermination' job came back but it wasn't a bad thing. In between his bartending gig and random jobs from Slade, Lincoln really didn't have much to do in town.

He'd taken to do his physical routine past the gate and get his workout in but it still wasn't enough. He fixed up his baby but that didn't take up too much time.

Lincoln had taken Lucy out at night for a few dates, see the sights and find out what people get up to after hours. On one of them, she pushed an idea to Lincoln that is rather tempting but they agreed to leave it on hold for a while.

One day, Lincoln decided to take up the librarian's offer but after the first day he and Lucy were just done with it. Everyone was out of their age group, all the boys kept staring at Lucy, the girls were nervous around Lincoln and Conner's class was hosting him for the day.

Even though Lincoln hadn't gone back, Lucy did meet up with some of the other girls along with Kara, after class.

Lincoln had gotten bored again, until Karen came by the bar one night.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

While tending the bar, Karen slammed open the door. She was in a foul mood, she didn't even order any of the colorful or fruity drinks and instead she just had what was on tap.

After her fifth glass, Lincoln finally asked, "So, what's eating you tonight?"

Karen perked up, "Obviously not you." She chuckled and lightened up, "It's Conner *****"Uh huh"***** ugh he's getting on my last fucking nerve, y'know he really tried picking a fight with Kara over nothing *****"Uh huh"***** FUCK!

He had a bad day at school or whatever and all she did was ask, 'how was your day' he flies off the handle. Ugh he's just such an asshole *****"Uh huh"***** *****Sigh***** you get me right, Linky *****"Uh huh"***** that's why I came to you."

"Oh really, and here I thought you just spent all your nights here, I guess I am pretty great." He said with all the sarcasm he could muster.

"You're damn right, Linky. Now then, you're still a merc, right?"

"Last time I checked, yeah." He gave a dry response.

"Then I got a job for you."

"I'm not a hitman, you gotta deal with your cousin a different way." He smirked at her.

Karen laughs, "No, no… well, I mean, you are gonna _hit_ some people." Lincoln looks at her surprised, "Don't worry, you big baby. You're just gonna fight a few people… and Conner may or may not be at the end of that line."

Lincoln looks at Karen incredulously, "I'm sorry, what is this, bodyguard work?"

"Nope! I'm entering you in the ring." She ends with a grin but Lincoln just deadpans.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need you to explain, like now!"

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln was given the rundown. After hours, downstairs at the bar is an underground fight club. Light betting, stress release for everyone looking for a little more action in their life ect, whatever the reason.

Recently, Conner been getting mixed into it, he's already been a bit of a jackass to everyone and now he's been lording this over people he's fought.

Some of the special ops, Slade brought in get into it.

Conner's getting a bit too big for his boots and is in need of a lesson that Karen and Clark won't give him on principal, mostly they don't want Ma and Pa on their case, that and Clark is too nice to just hit Conner.

Lincoln's job is simple. Beat everyone and humble/humiliate Conner, let him know he's not the biggest fish in the pond.

To some extent, Lincoln saw nothing wrong with it, he didn't really like the kid even if he didn't wish any harm on Conner, disrespecting Lincoln is one thing, he's learned to ignore assholes wanting to give him a hard time.

Disrespecting his family out of some false bravado gained from excess testosterone was all Lincoln needed to take the job. That and beating up teenagers was just gravy, payment would be discussed later.

Right now, he was with Lucy, entering the backdoor to the bar.

Lucy knew what was up, "Are you really going to another fight club?"

Lincoln looked shocked, "How did you know what was h- no, dumb question, how long have you _known_ what was here?"

"Since the first night we spent here." Her answer was blunt.

"And you didn't say anything. Why?"

"I'd rather you didn't enter another one of these, we have more than enough money, you're only feeding that fire inside of you. The ones that compel you to fight without restraint, I'd hate for anyone to hold it against you for the duration of our stay here."

"You can relax, I'm here on a job *****"From Karen"***** How did you know _that_ part?" He questioned.

"Kara told me her sister got a dead ringer to tear apart the… sigh, king of the ring."

"It's a one-time thing, Luce. Gonna learn him some manners, get paid and stay away from the pits, easy as pie."

"And what is the pay exactly?" Lucy asked as Lincoln paused.

"Right, I guess we glossed over that, I may have been distracted with the promise of beating up a teenager with no repercussions from his family." Lincoln laughs to himself while Lucy stares at him.

"… sigh, Lincoln you know what we talked about, right?"

"Yes." He responded, "And it's not gonna come to THAT, *****"But if it did"***** it's not and not with her."

"I think, I'd be okay with it."

"But not me. Why would I go out for burgers when I have steak at home?" Lincoln finishes and could have sworn he heard a laugh but when he looked at Lucy, her face was neutral.

As they approach the stairs leading to a hall full of yelling.

Under the bar is an even bigger space, with its own bar, a crowd blocked off by a fence that leads to a big cage holding two fighters.

Currently, the overweight butcher and one of the teachers from school the two visited before were going at it.

Among the crowd, the two saw Clark, Karen and Kara. Only Karen seemed to be cheering them on.

The two approached the Kent – Danvers trio, wondering where Conner was and then Kara spoke up.

"Lucy, Lincoln! What are you guys doing here?" Her sister answered for them.

"Lincoln's here on a job and he brought Lucy to cheer him on." To this, Kara's jaw dropped just now realizing who Karen signed up.

Lincoln spoke, "Lucy's here to keep an eye on ME, doesn't want her favorite person coming home bloodied and bruised." He joked.

"You wish you were the favorite." She spoke in a dry tone.

Clark spoke out loud to Karen, "You brought HIM. Are you crazy- don't answer that, what made you think THIS was a good idea?"

"Well the booze may have played a part." She joked as they all heard Clark sigh deeply, "Besides, you were the one who said, 'someone has to beat him on his own turf', I'm just following your lead."

Clark was pinching the space between his eyebrows as Karen spoke to Lincoln, "Now, Mr. future-champion, I already signed you up, hope you don't mind but you got like two other guys before you get the 'champ', it was light tonight and I got good money on you."

As she finished, Lincoln could see the bar owner holding money and pocketing it, clearly, he was the bookie for tonight.

Lincoln and Lucy exchanged looks as she nods.

Clark walks up to Lincoln, "Just leave him in one piece, please." Lincoln nodded and turned back to Lucy.

Lincoln removes his shirt and hands it to her. He walks to the bookie, missing the older Danvers girl checking him out and the deep crimson blush on Kara's face.

~X~

The first two fights weren't worth mentioning, a couple of kids, older than Conner, each with powers.

One coated himself with fire and the other was a bit of a speedster.

Lincoln let the first tire himself out and took him down with a karate chop to the face, winning the crowd over.

He let the speedster get a few hits in and found them to be pretty weak not to mention he was predictable. The kid was fairly slow compared to the speeders Lincoln's met before. The kid tried to go in for a 'back of the head punch' but found himself on the ground when Lincoln back-fisted him.

The fights are usually divided between humans and mutants. For the sake of fairness and safety, no mixing, with only a few exceptions.

There were rules, nothing Lincoln was unfamiliar with, only two he needed to keep in mind, No Killing and when it's over, IT'S OVER! You stop.

~X~

Lincoln stood in the ring facing Conner.

Both were shirtless. Everyone could see the difference between the two.

Conner may have been toned but he had nothing on Lincoln, who stood nearly a head and shoulders above the boy.

The Kent boy was just seething, '_Of course they would go running to him. They really wanna push me, fine, I'll tear this asshole down a few pegs in front of everyone, show them what real power is_.' He amps himself.

Lincoln was calm and disinterested on the outside but he was ginning on the inside, he was thinking of ways to push Conner's buttons.

"Oh, what's this? Better hold on to your wallets folks, there's a _conman_ coming through." He earned a few chuckles as he saw Conner visibly tense up. "~_Connie, conman, con-artist_~, good to see you, say aren't you a little on the young side to be doing this, I mean, not my place to judge but kids like you should be in bed right about now."

With that, the crowd started throwing 'OOOOh's' and full on drunken laughter, but Conner was getting red and huffing.

Lincoln just goads him further, "Yes, I can feel your anger. It gives you focus, makes you stronger-" Lincoln bursts out laughing, "No, no it doesn't, really, you need to chill out and channel that anger kid, it's only gonna work against you." Lincoln said before he heard a bell and Conner charged forward.

Conner reeled back a fist, determined to hit that smug bastard in his stupid face.

But he was tripped and fell flat on his face. Lincoln tripped him with very little effort.

"Alright, what did you learn?" Lincoln said in a mocking tone.

Conner quickly scrambled to his feet and got into a poor boxer stance. He threw fist after fist but nothing connected.

Lincoln dodged, bobbed and weaved, not even looking at the boy. At one point even yawning, infuriating the angry teen even more.

"Ahhh! Conner yelled at the top of his lungs before jumping to deliver a flying punch at Lincoln's head only to catch the air.

"Seriously kid, who taught you how to fight? Telegraphing way too much, I can see and hear you coming a mile away.

Center yourself, arms up, keep your elbows in and actually put your weight behind it." Lincoln advised.

Conner… did not take the free advice and instead just threw another sloppy hook.

Lincoln just put his hands behind his back when he saw the punch coming, what shocked everyone, was him head-butting Conner's fist and even more shocking, Conner pulling back his arm, holding his hand in agony.

"Ughh!" Conner grunted, his knuckles bruised, maybe sprained. He looked to the silverette, grinning in satisfaction after seeing Conner back away.

-Outside the Cage-

Lucy along with the Kent – Danvers trio watched as Lincoln danced around Conner from the beginning of the match.

They even heard Lincoln give free advice to which Conner ignored and just pressed onward.

Kara gasped when she saw Lincoln block a punch with his forehead, Karen was cheering the match on as Lucy and Clark sighed at this.

Clark Looks to Lucy, "I got a pretty good idea how this is gonna end, but tell me, how bad do you think it'll go for my brother?" He asked hoping Lincoln wouldn't leave his teenage brother lying beaten in a pool of his own blood.

"Sigh, knowing Lincoln, he wants to make it a show before knocking him out, Conner should get out of it relatively unharmed, unless he does something stupid to sour Lincoln's mood, like hitting his genitals or spitting on him."

Clark thought for millisecond before paling, '_Oh no_,' "What would happen if he did?" He asked, now worried for his reckless and un-sportsman like brother.

"He takes it… personal, but your brother will live, probably." She whispers that last part but Clark looks at her knowing she said something.

Kara spoke up, "Does Lincoln do this sort of thing often, cage fighting, I mean?"

"Yes." Lucy answered bluntly, "He makes quite the living in fight pits, he revels in it. He's had prior training and the invaluable experience he earned in the pits has capitalized on it."

Kara doubled back it Lincoln, who was now slapping Conner around and laughing in his face, almost feeling bad for her cousin, a shred of catharsis on her part and maybe a little pity.

Karen shout out to her family, "Oh I wish, I knew he could do this the day you guys showed up, I would've made a killing on him!"

Clark looking to see his brother in bad shape, thinks how he might've done against Lincoln.

-Back in the Cage-

Lincoln looks at Conner, still holding his hand, "You uh, need a break, wanna take five, maybe put some ice on that?" He asks, half serious, half joking but Conner doesn't look amused.

Conner rushes in throwing a flurry of punches.

Lincoln blocked and countered with a slap across the face for each, at first doing nothing but gradually adding more and more strength behind each strike.

At first Conner felt nothing when Lincoln started slapping him, '_Is he serious_-'

He didn't get to finish that thought as his face tilted from the next hit, his cheeks starting to get sore and turning a blistering red color.

Conner looked at Lincoln, who hasn't even broken a sweat, not even after fighting already.

Conner himself was drenched.

He didn't even think about his next move as he tackled Lincoln to a caged wall and was rewarded with a flurry of slaps to the face, neck and lastly the ear, bet that one hurt.

"Stop It!" Conner shouts as backs away.

"~Good, good. Let the hate flow through you~." Lincoln uses a decent Palpatine voice.

Conner growled then he throws another jab at Lincoln, only for said man to catch Conner's fist with his own punch.

Conner felt his knuckles pop but ignores it as he swings a left hook.

Lincoln bats it away with one arm and with the same hand, backhands Conner and he goes down for the first time.

Conner was being humiliated, in his own ring, he owned the cage matches, he owned everyone else, and now this jackass comes along and just whoops him back and forth like it's nothing.

'_What the fuck is this guy_?' Conner yells in his own head.

Conner sees something drip onto the floor.

Blood?

His blood, Conner was leaking blood from his mouth. Just how hard did Lincoln slap him to do this?

He's taken a bullet to the face and that didn't even leave a bruise, he's taken punches before but he never went down, no this was a first, Conner's being slapped around silly and Lincoln's just goofing on him.

Conner starts to see red and notices Lincoln pausing, staring out into the stands, now was his chance.

Lincoln had taken a look at Conner, the feeble thing was like a puppy being knocked around, if the boy wasn't such a punk when they first met, he'd feel sorry for him… but he doesn't.

Face all bruised up, eyes moistened with unshed tears, blood dribbling from the mouth, yeah, Lincoln's job was done, all that was left was to end it.

He decided to give Conner a moment to get up before knocking him out.

Lincoln looks out to the cheering crowd he was putting on a show for, lifting his arms as if telling everyone, 'More', their cheers got louder and Lincoln was enjoying this.

But then his breathing hitched when he heard something. A giggle, one he's heard before, many, many times in the darker corners of his mind.

Selene.

She was here.

Out of the corner of his eyes he sees the wannabe dominatrix walking by Lucy and as Lincoln was about to do something, she disappears.

His eyes flick back and forth from left to right, trying to find her until his eyes caught something.

A lighter tanned complexion, long white hair, a slender almost feminine face and glowing golden-amber eyes looking back at him intensely. The figure was coated in blood, Lincoln knew what he was looking at.

It was him, the 16 year old version of himself, the _thing_ Lincoln became years ago. Why was he here now, why is he seeing this, why-

***POW***

Lincoln was sent back to a caged wall and fell to a knee. He looked back and it was Conner who sent him on his knee.

The shock snapped Lincoln from his trance as he looked back to where 16y him was, only to see he was gone.

Lincoln panicked, an urge rose from deep within, he was familiar with this sensation, he really needed to tear something apart. He had to get out of here, now.

'_Forget the job, Karen can take care of her family problems herself_-'

"Yeah, not so high and mighty now are you, you smug dick!" Conner shouted, "Come on get up, I'm not done with you!"

Lincoln was about to retaliate when he felt a sensation come over him.

CALM – RELAX

'_Lucy_?'

Yeah, Lucy, she's got his back, keeps him from making these bad choices.

He takes a deep breath and stands up, '_I really should thank her_.' He thought, and he knows just how, he smirked.

"Alright, you win kid, I'm calling it. Good job." Lincoln says as he turns his back on Conner and looks to the bookie/bar owner, and as he was about to say something, Conner calls out.

"Coward! Is that all you got, get back here. I. AM. NOT. DONE. WITH. YOU." He shouts as Lincoln shrugs.

"But I'm done with you." Lincoln faces the bookie to tell him to end it but then-

***PTOOEY***

Lincoln felt something wet collide with the back of his head.

He heard the crowd go 'OOOOH' and touched the back of his head and saw a loogey on his fingers.

-Outside the Cage-

Lucy saw what happened as if one big car crash in slow motion.

Lincoln froze up and panicked, she felt his _surprise_, _worry_, _fear_ and _desperation_.

She wasn't sure what he may have seen but she knew what was coming next, _The Anger_.

Conner really didn't know when to stop and sucker punched Lincoln, then proceeded to antagonize her love even further, under normal circumstances, she'd do nothing, seeing as Lincoln had it coming, but this was seriously not the time for some super-roided out teen to throw a tantrum.

As Lincoln's anger was spiking, she sent out a pulse, trying to relax her white-haired lover before he did something he may regret and it worked… until Conner did the one thing he shouldn't and hocked a loogey at Lincoln, who was feeling the _urge_.

"Oh no." She flatly let out.

Clark looked to her and before he said anything, Lincoln struck without compassion or mercy.

-Back in the Cage-

Lincoln's back was still turned to Conner, who was still talking trash to Lincoln, thinking he finally got the edge.

The poor dumb bastard.

The bookie called out to Lincoln, "Are you finished or wha- *****"I suggest you end it now"***** AHHH!" He turns to the creepy goth chick beside him, "Where did you come from?" He asked as he saw Lincoln unleash his wrath upon the Kent boy.

In Lincoln's mind, his anger was voicing itself.

'That worthless little shit! I can kill him 20 different ways without powers and 100 more without getting creative! I'm ending him NOW!' His angry side roared before his calmer and Logical side took over.

'_No, remember Lincoln, you've been through this before, think back to master Lao Shi. Calm yourself, and take him down gently_.'

'And how do I do that,' His anger spoke out.

'_Half the battle is fought within the mind, think your moves ahead, the boy is obviously unskilled, it'll be over in the blink of an eye_.'

'_Alright Lincoln, you've tempered your strikes to see how much force to apply, this should be easy enough_.'

Lincoln spots Lucy, worried, for a good reason.

'_This mustn't register on an emotional level_.' His inner calmer voice reasoned.

Lincoln turned back to Conner with _dull_ eyes and fetched something from his back pocket. It was a handkerchief.

It's not _against_ the rules, besides, with two supers, who's going to care about a piece of cloth.

Or in Lincoln's case, _a weapon_.

Lincoln wiped the back of his head and glared at Conner who raised his arms ready to pounce.

And so, Lincoln began.

'_First, distract target_.' With that Lincoln tossed the piece of cloth over to Conner's face, blinding him.

Conner, without seeing Lincoln throws a punch.

'_Then block his blind jab_.' Lincoln deflects it with one arm.

'_Counter with cross to left cheek_.' Lincoln lightly punches Conner with his free arm, throwing him off balance.

'Discombobulate!' Lincoln smashes both hands onto each of Conner's ears.

Conner, disoriented and in obvious pain, reels his right arm back.

'_Dazed, he'll attempt wild haymaker, employ elbow block_.' Lincoln raises an arm and blocks Conner's strike.

'And body shot!' Lincoln punches Conner's upper abs, he felt rib-bones crack.

Conner staggers back but then he wildly swings his left arm, not even thinking anymore, if ever.

'_Block feral left_.' Lincoln effortlessly deflects Conner's attack and prepares to strike with his left elbow.

'_Weaken right jaw_.' Lincoln makes contact, making Conner shout in aching pain, but Lincoln's not done.

'Now fracture!' Lincoln pulls back his left arm and throws a punch on the same spot of Conner's jaw.

'Break cracked ribs!' Lincoln shoves a fist into Conner's abs and pulls back before Conner has time to step backward.

'_Traumatize solar plexus_.' Lincoln punches the gap between Conner's sternum and bellybutton.

Conner shouts but still stands.

'_Dislocate jaw entirely_.' Lincoln punches Conner in the face again, feeling something shift and pulls back, raising a leg.

'_Heel-kick to diaphragm_!' Lincoln kicks Conner's chest sending him flying back to the other side of the gate, breaking through his exit door.

Lincoln's thoughts form rapidly as Conner slowly goes down.

'_End summary, ears ringing, jaw fractured, three ribs cracked, four broken, diaphragm hemorrhaging. For a normal human, physical recovery: six weeks, full physiological recovery: six months. Capacity to spit at back of head, neutralized_.'

Suddenly, all the cheering stopped. Everyone was quiet and look back and forth from Lincoln to the fallen Conner.

"Where did that come from?" Some drunk shouts from the crowds.

Lincoln walks out of his exit and gets his shirt from Lucy. Without talking, the two made their way upstairs and leaves.

-**Karen**-

When all was said and done, no one said anything.

When Karen looked to Conner, she saw he was still breathing, she sighed in relief.

'_Shit_!' She thought to herself. Karen looked over and saw Clark, Kara and a few other people rush over to Conner's downed form.

Yeah, he isn't getting back up anytime soon.

After making her way to her family, Clark looked at her with a fixed glare.

"What the hell was that about?" Before she could answer, "Was THAT 'all part of the plan too?"

*****Sigh***** "Honestly, he kinda had this coming." Clark glares at her, "I mean, c'mon. Linc was ready to leave, you saw what happened after that, tell me he didn't have it coming." Karen told her cousin.

Clark sighs and looks back at his brother. It doesn't look that bad, maybe he'll be alright.

"Alright, I'll get him to the hospital. You two just get home and if they ask, tell mom and dad where we are." Clark says.

"Cool but first…" Karen leaves it on a lull as she struts her way to the bookie, reaches into his coat pocket and politely takes a handful of cash. She makes her way to the makeshift bar, lays a bill down, grabs a bottle of who knows what, uncorks it with her mouth and leaves.

After a while, Kara follows suit.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln and Lucy are walking a darkly lit street in silence.

Lincoln looked like he wanted to say something, he really did. Right now, he's want to choose his words carefully, he wants Lucy to know he didn't lose control or try to kill the boy.

Just as Lincoln was about to say something, Lucy opens her mouth, "I think you handled that rather well, Lincoln."

Lincoln had to do a double take, "Say what now?"

Lucy goes on, "Yes, I felt your gnawing urge spike and just as it reached its boiling point, you centered yourself." Lincoln felt his confidence restored, "Perhaps you could have been gentler with Conner, I'm dreading our apology to mister and missus Kent, they may not appreciate what you did, even for a job."

The silverette pauses.

*****Sigh***** "I really did it this time, huh Luce?" He asked but then-

"Hey!"

The two turned around and saw Karen running towards them.

When the busty Danvers girl caught up, she took a swig of whatever drink she had and spoke, "Sup guys. So, Linc… that was some show you gave huh."

"…yeah." Was Lincoln's response, "Look, he's gonna be oaky, he won't be walking around much when he wakes up but he'll be fine."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Don't worry, it's not the first time it's happened." Karen casually waves it off.

"Really?" Both Lincoln and Lucy asked, stunned.

"Oh yeah. You'll never catch him talking back to Slade, ever."

Lincoln thought back to the first time he met Slade, '_huh, what do you know_?'

"What happened?" Lucy asked.

Karen then regales the two of Conner's _encounter_ with the Lieutenant. Slade didn't pay much attention to Conner, he was just doing his job but after the fence came up a few months ago, Slade got tired of Conner shit and just let him 'try' to prove himself.

Of course Conner got wrecked, in front of special-forces. That's when his attitude around town became so unbearable, he's always got something to prove and he actually wins, feeding his fragile ego.

And here we are at this point, where a member of Conner's own family has to hire someone to beat his ass red in front of everyone.

"So yeah, that's it. Conner's been getting uppity and needed someone to set him straight. Ma and Pa wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I did it myself and Clark is…" She leaves it open.

"Too nice to do it to his little brother?" Lucy tried to finish.

"I was gonna say kind of a pussy but that works too, I guess." She chuckles at her own joke as they move on but where called out to by Kara.

The four made their way into town with light conversation and before they split up, Karen told Lincoln and Lucy she'll handle the folks back home.

Lincoln thinks as he and Lucy walk back to their place.

'_Did I really need to go that far, I mean he was a dick but… fuck. Did I have to fuck him up THAT bad? And I liked his family too, what's gonna happen there_?'

"Lincoln." Lucy says, breaking his trance, he looks at her, "If you're feeling conflicted over Conner, then you should apologize to his family, preferably tomorrow." She reasons.

Lincoln nods, "Yeah… thanks Luce."

~X~

The next day, Lincoln and Lucy visited a flower shop while ignoring the stares and whispers that Lincoln could hear. Each about the beat down Lincoln gave Conner or what he did to Slade and his men.

The florist and her husband were calm on the outside but from their body language and with Lucy's empath, each could tell the two were afraid of Lincoln.

They did their business and left, no trouble.

Lincoln held a card and a bouquet of sunflowers and various other brightly colored flowers that Lincoln could not name. Lucy knew a fair bit about flowers but it was the brighter kinds like Lincoln was carrying that made her want to vomit.

Lucy prefers the colors red, black and purple, she was so disappointed to learn roses don't actually come in black but that is something for Lincoln to worry about later.

~X~

In the hospital, Lincoln stopped by Francis' room and left a few flowers for him. He was looking better.

On the same floor, Lincoln and Lucy saw Mr. and Mrs. Kent leave a room, presumably belonging to their son.

The moment the four came into contact, there was a brief pause before the Kent patriarch spoke first.

"We heard Karen put you up to this, we also heard he didn't stand much of a chance against you." He didn't speak with distain but he clearly wasn't happy either.

Lincoln was uncomfortable, he normally doesn't do… this. Apologize for beating someone up, maybe it's because he likes this family, maybe they remind him of the one he's missing? Either way he needs to do this right.

Lincoln pauses, "Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I am so sorry about your son. All I was supposed to do was beat him and I took it too far. I know it doesn't fix anything but if there is anything I can do to make this right, please tell me."

Jonathan and Martha were surprised.

Honestly, they were beginning to think this was normal for Lincoln, beating on teenagers and leaving them broken.

He was in the heart of the dead-zone for a long time, so he might not be all there, but here he was proving that wrong.

Lincoln was apologizing, even going so far as to bring flowers (assuming they are for Conner), he and their boy shouldn't have been in the ring together in the first place but Conner was going down there anyway.

Of course they were livid at Karen for setting this up, somewhere inside they each knew this thing between Conner and Lincoln was going to happen but having their boy put in the hospital was too much.

The Kents looked to each other and then Martha spoke first.

"Thank you, Lincoln but that's alright. Conner will be just fine, a few weeks in bed, nothing too serious."

Lincoln voices, "But still-" The Kent patriarch interjects.

"But nothing, frankly we're more relieved than angry with you, besides, with Conner on bed rest, we're gonna be shorthanded, Clark's gonna be busy this month but without Conner, it'll be harder on him."

Lincoln perks up, '_They're either the chilliest parents I've met or there's more to it._' He blurts out, "A- I could help with that, y'know, since I'm the reason you'll be shorthanded, it's the least I could do."

Everyone stops and stares at him as his cheeks redden a little.

Martha smiles at her husband and he returns it, Lincoln has no idea what that means.

"You sure you'll be able to-" Jonathan is interrupted by Lincoln.

"Yes, I can handle it, I've worked on a few farms before, including one time for a buddy of mine when I was a kid." Lincoln says, determined to lend a hand.

The couple look at each other and then to Lincoln.

Jonathan extends a hand, "If you're sure about this."

Lincoln grabs his hand and shakes, "I'm sure."

Smiles were exchanged as the group of four stood in silence before Lucy speaks up.

"Sigh, as nice as this must be for you Lincoln, you came here for another reason, did you not?"

Lincoln's eyes widen, "Right, uh, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, may I see him?" He asked.

The Kents shared a look before Jonathan asked, "There won't be any trouble will there?"

"You have my word." Lincoln spoke, "Pink promise!" He says as he makes his way to Conner's room.

-**Conner**-

'_Well this is a fine mess. Get your ass beat so hard you're still fading in and out. At least it tuned out the lecture_.' Conner thought to himself.

The Kent boy was in bed, wearing a patient gown and his head wrapped in binding for his jaw, fortunately it's not worse than a fracture. As long as he didn't talk much he'd be out of here in no time.

'_At least it can't get worse_.' Conner thinks.

"Guess who?" Conner turns his head to, you guessed it, Lincoln.

'_And shit_!' Conner notices Lincoln had something behind his back.

"So… uh, crazy night, right?" Lincoln awkwardly tries to make small talk.

"What're you doin here?" Conner mumbles, he knows he shouldn't talk but whatever.

"I just came here to… well…" He can't finish it.

"Came here to gloat? Really?"

"No, no… I came by to drop something off." Lincoln walks by the nightstand beside Conner's bed and lays the bouquet of flowers in a vase and stands a card next to it. "Here you go," Lincoln walks to the door, "See ya Conner."

Lincoln silently exits and leaves the boy to think.

Conner faces away from the 'gifts' but his head slowly turns toward them and he eases.

The flowers were nice, not that _he'd_ know if they were bad or not.

He read the card and it was in cursive, nice penmanship with a small mess up at the end.

_Get well soon, Conner_  
\- _Lincoln __L__ Park_

'_Can't believe he messed up his own name. What a dork_.' He thinks with a smirk.

There was a letter... an L maybe that seemed to be crossed out, what was that about he thought, '_He didn't have to apologize… he could've taken me apart any time. I already saw him beat Slade, why did I think I had a chance_-' *****"Hello"***** "AHHH!" Conner holds his mouth and clutched it in pain, "OW!"

Conner turned to see Lucy.

"Where did you come from?" He asked while his jaw was clenched, remembering to let it set and heal.

"Through the door, sigh." She stated as he turned to see the door open, "But that's irrelevant. I came to apologize on behalf of Lincoln, I know he didn't actually say it. I hope you can forgive him for… this and won't hold it against him in the future."

Conner pauses for a moment, he didn't look at her but instead was looking back at his 'gifts'.

"Were those… your idea?"

"No, Lincoln wishes to make amends, he's trying to be a better person, he knows when he's gone too far and when he needs to apologize, he's not some savage, he's human, like you or me."

Conner thinks, "Don't worry about it." He mumbled, not even looking at her.

"Sigh, thank you, Conner."

Conner looks back and asks, "So why does-" He stops when he sees no one, she's gone, the doors even closed.

He'd ask out loud where she went if he wasn't so spooked.

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

Lincoln spent the next day working on his baby, The Loud Hog #7. The same evening, he and Lucy went out for a _romantic_ stroll through the cemetery.

For 11 year old Lincoln, the entire thing would have been off putting, now, it was just a place, never minding the tombstones to the dead and buried or the gloomy and depressing scenery.

So long as Lucy was enjoying herself, it was fine. While on the subject of Lucy and ignoring her obsession with the macabre, lately, she's been more hands on.

Trying to push for physical intimacy.

It never goes too far, with both fear and respect for Lucy. After taking up the job at the bar and Lincoln's initial encounter with Karen, Lucy has been pushing the idea of a pseudo-polyamorous relationship.

Being together but occasionally adding another person to the mix.

Lincoln, being the guy with a loosened moral grip that has lived off of debauchery and was even shared between multiple lovers from time to time, would have said yes in a heartbeat.

It was nothing new for him but, considering their _problems_ regarding their late-night activities, he knew (somewhere inside) this wasn't the time to be selfish and look for an easy way out of their difficulties.

While in the midst of their private conversation, they were interrupted by someone.

They were approached by an officer, apparently Slade wanted to speak with Lincoln tomorrow, which is now today

Lincoln and Lucy decided to leave their talk on pause.

And so, now Lincoln is lying on his bed, alone, contemplating his week so far.

He knows he should go see Slade as soon as possible, and thus he goes to the bathroom to rinse off.

Lincoln notices stubbles on his face, "Nope! Not today." It's rare that he finds any hair growing on his face but he still prefers to keep it clean and smooth.

He has a good number of ways to take care of it.

Make a razor, burn it off, shave with _metallic_ claws, etc. take your pick.

~X~

After wiping off his face, Lincoln takes a breath, "Ah, ok, I'm rea-"

He paused when his met the ones in the mirror. For fuck sake, it's the deranged edge-lord… again.

Lincoln just can't catch a break.

In the mirror is the upper body of 16 year old Lincoln. Feminine face, long hair and a crazed look in his eyes as he's just covered in blood, some of it even leaking from his fang-baring mouth.

*****Sigh***** "Just go away," He says to himself, getting annoyed by this _hallucination_.

He exits the bathroom in low spirits. Lincoln thinks back to what he told Lucy before.

_YOU ARE NOT DAMAGED GOODS-YOU'RE HEAILING BUT IT TAKES TIME-I THINK TRAUMA IS SUPPOSED TO HELP US BECOME MORE OF WHO WE ARE MEANT TO BE BY TAKING A LITTLE MORE OF WHO WE WERE_

"Yeah right. Who are you kidding Linc?" He mumbles to himself, '_She has a future out there, do you_? _Do you think you even deserve a second chance, how many lives have you taken, and yet when yours was snuffed out, you got to come back, how is that fair_?'

It's a regular thing for him to berate himself in his own head. When will these visions leave him be?

Lincoln sighs, puts on a clean shirt and goes to see Slade, he sports a dull glow within his golden-amber eyes.

-**Lucy**-

Lucy was having a pretty good week so far.

How could she not, Smallville was peaceful, most people left her alone, which is always a plus but she had a small pocket of new friends.

What's more is that she been trying to get more physical with Lincoln and even though she freezes at the part she wants, oh so badly, her partner has been nothing short of supportive.

She and Lincoln have been on a few dates. Nothing too extravagant but the outings have been a much needed comfort as of late.

After his fist night as a bouncer, she was appalled by the way the busty Danvers girl tried to throw herself at Lincoln. Then she had a moment to think on it.

Could that be the solution, no, letting Lincoln fuck whoever he wanted wouldn't fix what was happening between them, it may only relive Lincoln of his tension but it wouldn't bridge the gap separating them.

Lucy would need to sleep on it.

The day Lincoln left for the job with Slade, she was reading her book. An erotic literature (smut) about two people who couldn't be more different and yet fell for one another. Later installments would expand and explore the adult world, introducing the couple to various explicit acts and developing them as people.

Back on topic, Lucy found inspiration from the book, having a trusted friend or loved one involved could open some doors. In other words, having a paramour or mistress wouldn't be so much FOR Lincoln as much as it would be for them both.

Another person to bridge that gap and bring them together. Lucy still wasn't sure on it so she went to the only person she could talk to, Kara.

Kara responded the way Lucy had predicted; nothing. Kara, bless her heart, has had to listen to Karen's tales of womanhood… _her_ womanhood being pounded, as she moves from partner to partner.

To hear her new friend having trouble with her love-life and looking to spice things up made her uneasy.

At first Kara had assumed Lucy was inviting her to their little ménage à trois, to which Lucy had corrected her with the _idea_ of having one, strangely enough, Lucy didn't hear a refusal when Kara thought she was being asked to join.

She would take a mental note for later.

The day after, Lucy told Lincoln what was on her mind.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

Lincoln said nothing.

Lucy was staring back nervous, "D-did you not hear me Lin-"

"Yeah, yeah I heard, but… are you serious, Luce." He asked with obvious concern, she was basically giving him the oaky to sleep around.

Lucy looked away for a second, "Yes, are you not okay with it, I thought most boys would find this arrangement appealing, in fact I thought you'd go for it without hesitation."

"It's no- I mean, look, I'm sure any guy would love to have his awesome girlfriend and have another on the side but are YOU sure you want this?"

"I do, though… there WILL be conditions…" She leaves it on a lull as Lincoln speaks up.

"Of course, yeah, uh…"

"I'm going to be part of it, from start to finish. Keep in mind, this is just as much for me as it is for you." She smirks as Lincoln stares off, thinking on it, Lucy, with another woman, while he watches… then joins.

'_Huh, that's something_' ***Snap** **Snap***

Lincoln shook his head as Lucy called out to him.

"Imagining our new nightly escapades are we?" She says in a teasing tone.

"Hehe, so, not that I'm saying yes *****"But you aren't saying no"***** who did you have in mind?"

Lucy was quiet, "Honestly, I'm not too sure, I'm not even sure if we'll find anyone here now… but there was this one thing."

Lincoln nods, "Uh huh, anyone in particular."

"Well… do you remember your night as a bouncer?"

"Kinda hard to forget with Kare- no…"

Lucy nods, "It was just a thought, maybe, she already seems alright with the idea of accompanying the two of us, so I figured, maybe we'd try with her to see where this goes."

Lincoln looks away for a second.

"You don't have to say yes, and certainly not now, but just keep it in mind, please."

"Alright." Their conversation ended there.

~XxX Flashback End XxX~

They hadn't talked about after that until later in the week.

Moving on, at school, Lucy actually found herself wanting to die even faster when she had to sit through all of class as the boys practically drooled over her and the girls doing the same for her Lincoln.

Lucy was very grateful to have Lincoln as her tutor, she was nearly caught up with that class, which just so happened to have Conner.

She mostly ignored his presence but found something odd.

A red-headed girl sneaking glances not at Lincoln but Conner. Was someone interested in him, surprising considering how much of a prick he was in the beginning, but to be fair he has a young, underdeveloped charm, one that's being smothered by his scowl.

After class, Lucy had followed/found the girl alone and approached.

Ignoring the initial shock, Lucy had meet Megan Morse.

Intrigued by the dark, mysterious and alluring woman known simply as Lucy, Megan the innocent and friendly neighborhood schoolgirl befriended her in an instant. If out of genuine kindness or slight fear of the new girl in town, remains unknown.

It was only out of happenstance that Kara would run into the two and now the three would make it a routine to meet.

It was apparent that Megan may have a romantic interest in Conner but that doesn't concern Lucy.

Just having new friends did wonders for Lucy's self-esteem, she was becoming more daring with Lincoln.

After coming back from his job with Beth, Lucy made a bold move to comfort him from his embarrassment.

She's really becoming more hands-on.

Lincoln's becoming more _energetic_ and Lucy is loving it.

Though her purchase of protection had apparently been wasted, seeing as they hadn't gone that far sine the _last time_, not that either seemed to mind, for now.

Right now, Lucy is sitting on a bench, talking to Kara and Megan.

Kara was complaining about her sister when something caught Lucy's eyes.

Lucy turned to see Lincoln, looking fine, but feeling dejected, she frowned.

Lincoln was mindlessly walking his way to Slade when something latched onto his arm, he didn't have to look to see who.

"Hello, my love. What troubles you so?" Lucy asked in soft tones.

Lincoln brightened up, "Hey, beautiful." He leaned and kissed her cheek as they reddened, "Just have to meet with the lieutenant for something."

The couple stopped as Lincoln turned to notice Kara who lightly blushed when their eyes met and she turned away. Beside her was a girl he vaguely remembered from the school he visited, were they friends, is she a friend to Lucy, were Lincoln's thoughts as he looked to Lucy.

"Need some company?" She said while giving a faint smile.

Lincoln returned the grin as he shook his head no, "It's probably just a job, I'll meet you on the way back." He ended with a peck on her lips.

They part ways. When Lucy walks back to her friends, she notices Kara's gaze lingering on Lincoln.

"Hmmm." Lucy hums to herself as she thinks.

When she approached, she looked right at Kara, "May I have a word with you, Kara."

-Lincoln-

After being guided to Slade's office, Lincoln noticed a few things.

There were quite a few files and dockets spread over his desk as the lieutenant was rifling through a few of them.

There were some drawing mixed in with a few, ones made by a kid.

Lastly, a chess set.

"Ah, Mr. Park. I was expecting you later but this is fine." Slade welcomed Lincoln.

"So, uh… is this a bad time, *****"not at all"***** right, what did you need to see me for?"

"Just some personal business," Slade says as he cleans off his desk of everything but a few files and the chest set that was presented between the two as Slade motioned Lincoln to take a seat.

Lincoln looks to the chess board, his side was white and Slade's was black.

"You play?" Slade asks as Lincoln nods.

"A little, me and Lucy do from time to time." Lincoln explained, usually they played with makeshift or constructed pieces, made with what they could find or make.

"Then by all means, you have the first move." Slade gestures to the board.

"Is this all you called me for?"

"It's mostly for me, helps pass the time while I get to know you a little better." Slade says.

Lincoln shrugs and moves a piece.

~X~

A few minutes into the game that Lincoln mindlessly plays through and Lincoln's lost a fourth of his set while yet to take any from the Lieutenant.

Slade notices that Lincoln is bored.

"So, I heard you were at ground-zero when it all went to shit." He says to Lincoln who visibly perks.

"Yeah, uh… how-"

"Conner and his family told me, well, mostly Conner." He smirks.

'_Of course, Conner. Whatever, it's not like you were hiding it from them, so what_.' Lincoln thinks.

"Forgive a man for doubting you but… how did the two of you make it out?" Slade asks.

"Sometimes I'm not even sure. We drove out as fast and as far as we could, got stopped by a road block and took cover behind a building.

Thinking back, there was no reasonable way we should have survived but we did. If you don't believe me, that's fine, no skin off my back." Lincoln ends while moving another piece with no sense of purpose.

While Lincoln looks away, Slade frowned a bit and just moves a piece to capture the one Lincoln moved.

"So, Michigan eh, not exactly walking distance to Washington."

"How much do you know?"

"About as much as you told them." Slade explains, "Heard you were an orphan and you're real close to your girl's family."

"Yeah…" Lincoln nods.

"That's nice, really, she an only child?"

"… Nope! Bunch of sisters." He answers.

"Bet it's never quiet with her family?"

"You have no idea…" Lincoln grins.

"Oh, there he is, there's that smile you've been hiding." He says as Lincoln turns but couldn't hold his face. "But it's better that way, big family, I mean."

Lincoln looks back at him as he moves a piece with a little more enthusiasm and finally captures one of Slade's pieces.

"I mean it, nothing sadder than an empty house." Slade says with a small sigh.

"Speaking from experience?" Lincoln asks.

"Yep, but enough about me, I bet you have a lot of stories about Lucy's family, seeing as you're so close with them, if they took you to Seattle."

Lincoln paused for a moment, then a small smile makes itself known.

There was never a dull moment in the Loud house.

Non-stop adventure, wholesome family fun and so much learning and growing.

Seattle, was supposed to be a family get-together in honor of Lisa's achievement, but it turned into a nightmare that's lasted for six straight years with Lincoln and Lucy. They never got to spend the next Christmas and New Year's back home, they must've missed out on a lot.

Lincoln doesn't want to think about that, his mind drifts back to the last family get-together before Seattle.

_ARK_

The beach. The last day of summer, a great memory to fall back on.

He and Lily were playing together and occasionally checking up on the rest of the family.

Lori was texting Bobby as per usual. Even after going to college, she was still the same old Lori.

Leni was judging a Sandcastle contest between the twins and Lynn. The super competitive sister won and rubbed it in Lola's face. Despite not having the best skill set, when Lynn puts her mind to it, she can come out on top.

Luna was texting her girlfriend, Sam almost the whole time, occasionally striking up Lincoln for conversation while trying to get her mind off of stuff.

Luan was pranking everyone, from the parents to her sisters, until Lincoln foiled her attempts on him, she got him back later.

Lucy had Lana and Lola bury her in a sand coffin and that was _her_ idea of a fun time.

Lisa was documenting something, barely acknowledging anything.

Lincoln missed those days.

_PARK… MOVE_

It also goes without saying that this was the time of Lincoln's awakening to the female form.

His older sisters were beauties, no one needed to tell him that. He wonders if he would have made a move on any of them if he had never left. His answer would have been no, or so he tells himself, but here he was dating Lucy. What would they think of him *****"PARK"***** would they accept it, would they throw him away *****"PARK"***** what about Lucy.

"Mr. Loud, it's your move." Said the Lieutenant.

Lincoln snaps out of his thoughts, "Right, sorry abo-"

Lincoln froze.

'_What did he say_?' He asks himself as he felt his stomach drop and his heart sped.

"What was that?" He asked in a whisper.

Slade smirked, "I've been calling you for some time, _Mr. Loud_, or would you still prefer Mr. Park?"

That's what he thought, "H-how… when…" He could even form a question.

"If it makes you feel any better, I really didn't think it was _you_ until now.

After crashing your dinner-date with the Kents and hearing your story from Conner, I got a hunch and did some digging.

My boss had me do some bodyguard work for some big-wig prodigy scientist once, from good ol' Michigan."

"Lisa." Lincoln quietly concludes.

"Yep, I skimmed her file the first time. Comes from a big family," Lincoln pays attention to his words and starts remembering the questions earlier, he felt so stupid for giving out information like that so easily. "But she lost a brother and sister back at ground-zero.

The day after you beat me and my men, I sent word to have Lisa's file retrieved.

The difference between a _professional_ and an amateur is that you always know who you're working with, don't forget that.

As for the WHEN, a few days ago I received it and trust me, I didn't think it was you until now."

Lincoln pales. He couldn't even make eye contact with the Lieutenant.

"So… you and your sister *****"adopted"***** Noted, less creepy and much better that way." Slade smirks and chuckles.

Under the table, out of Slade's view, his fists tightened and glowed faintly, he may have to do… _something_.

"Come now, I'm not judging, not really, I'm sure after everything you've been through, she kept you sane, grounded. Who else would you be with other than the woman who keeps you from drifting away."

'_You have no idea_.' Lincoln's face was neutral but his insides were churning.

"Now again, Mr. Loud, it's your move."

Lincoln's brows furrowed as his hands slowly went to the board, Slade noticing it calls out.

"Let's make it interesting, if you win; I'll let you take a look at Lisa's file and we'll keep this to ourselves, what do you say?"

And like that, Lincoln's face made a serious expression as his eyes looked back and forth as if contemplating.

Lincoln eyes stopped and he nods. He picks up a piece and moves.

~X~

The two were quickly moving piece after piece and capturing one after another.

Lincoln was down to six pieces while Slade had ten left.

Slade saw it, Lincoln was slipping, he was losing his grip over what he was told. Slade had an idea and opened his mouth.

"You know, when I saw Lisa's file I just couldn't believe it. Two survivors from ground-zero made their way onto my base after fighting tooth and nail to keep each other safe.

It's a little disappointing to see you falter over a _game_ or do you just not _care_ enough to see what I have on your _family_." Slade ends.

The lieutenant saw it happen, the warmth and hope in Lincoln's eyes died and his glowing eyes turned dull, just like what he saw when he was pinned by the beast of a man nearly a week ago.

Lincoln moved his pieces, barely acknowledging anything else.

Slade lost a few pieces but took another three of Lincoln's, but then-

"Mate!" Lincoln let out in a rough voice.

Slade looked at the board, his king was trapped, he had a good seven pieces left and Lincoln still won. He looked up into the dull eyes of Lincoln who was slowly calming down.

Slade topples his king piece and with that, he's beaten.

"Congratulations, Mr. Loud. It seems you have a gifted mind, one built for strategy, not many can think quickly under pressure and not a lot of people can say they've beaten me, especially after losing a quarter of their set."

Lincoln said nothing as he watched Slade.

"I can tell you're thinking about taking these files from me the moment I told you about them, even if you had to go through me, is that right?"

Lincoln said nothing but Slade hummed as if he was answered.

"We're a lot alike, Lincoln, you and me. We're two of a kind, so long as it's over the people we care for, we'll plunge ourselves as far into hell as we can go, until we lose everything.

I see it in your eyes, that killer instinct, it just needs a bit of fine tuning and I bet you could purge every evil, every threat to your family. As long as you can keep them safe, nothing else matters, you'll do anything for your family."

As Slade made his case, light returned to Lincolns eyes and you could see his breathing evened out as he looked less threatening.

"You want to live a normal life back out of the walls but you'll know when you get there, there's nothing for you out there, for Lucy, maybe, but you've seen it, haven't you, how far people can sink, when they become monsters, we need warriors with the body, mind and power to take them on, who better than someone like you."

Lincoln speaks up, "I'm not sure what you're trying to sell me but I'm not interested in joining your militia group." He says with a solid voice.

"No, not that. It's more about what I do out of these walls, what I'm expect to return to. Believe me when I say I had to get any intel on you through your sister's file on pretense about the walls.

If anyone found out why I asked for them, my boss, let me repeat, MY BOSS, would be all over you. She's a cold-blooded bitch who will use whoever and whatever means she has to, to get the job done."

Lincoln looked a little shaken by this and then Slade slid Lisa's dossier over to him.

"A deals a deal, take your time."

** *KNOCK* *KNCOCK***

Both men look at the door that opened and in comes a child, the same boy Lincoln met over a week ago.

"Are you done?" The boy asked.

"Joey, what have I told you about coming in when I have a meeting?"

"Sorry dad!" The boy left right after that.

*****Sigh***** "Kids, am I right?" Slade looked to Lincoln who was just floored.

"Yeah that's joey, my special boy."

Lincoln just left it at that and read Lisa's file. Not too much he understands right now, bits and pieces that he already knew.

Then he spots something new and somewhat recent.

Current head scientist for the R&D facility of a pharmaceutical company called Umbrella.

A few listed achievements noteworthy accomplishments, credited with the discovery of hard-light technology and listed as the lead engineer for constructing the Hard-light shield that divides the US.

Most things Lincoln was sure of, there was plenty on Lisa but there was a lot he couldn't understand, considering they're not in-depth, mostly just facts about her.

What's important is that she is listed as alive. On the next page, Lincoln sees her immediate family, he let out a breath of relief, his parents and all of his sisters were alive.

His eyes listed off one sister after another until he got to himself and Lucy. They were declared dead at 2018.

'_Well, obviously they'd think we're dead_.'

And that was all that was important or relevant to Lincoln. His family is alive and that's all he needs to know.

Lincoln looks to Slade, "Is that it? That's all you had on me?" Lincoln asks almost irritated that he got found out with just this bit of information.

Slade responds, "Like I said, I had a hunch, _you_ confirmed it." He said with a smug undertone.

Lincoln grumbled, only having himself to blame.

"So, Lincoln _Loud_, where did _Park_ come from, not that I don't appreciate the clever word play, why?"

"When the walls came up, there was a rumor… that turned out to be true, that Lisa Loud made it, we figured if people made the connection it might not be good for us, from then on, me and Luce started using aliases. Nothing complicated, just went without using our family name."

Slade nodded, then something caught his attention, the door cracked open and he saw his boy peeking into the room, "Joey, enough!" Slade called out to him as Lincoln looked back.

It was definitely the same kid, but taking a closer look, his dark hair might be dirty blond and as the door closed Lincoln had a thought.

"How long have you been here, you and your men, I mean?"

"About two years now."

"… Cute kid *****"thank you"***** he couldn't have been born here, he's what 8, 9?" Lincoln asked.

"10 actually." Slade replies.

"So you brought your kid with you, behind the wall?"

"It's not like I could leave him with a sitter."

"No other family to leave him with?"

"Nope, I'm all he's got and he's all I have left." The lieutenant left it at that as Lincoln decided not to pry any further.

Hoping to change the subject, Lincoln opened his mouth again, "So, since you clearly came from the outside, what'd I miss? I hear a bunch of little things but other than hearsay I got nothing, I'm hoping you could set a few things straight, Lieutenant."

"Alright, where to begin… you know about the _cloud_ right?" Slade asks.

"I know _about_ it, what it's done and that it's keeping anything from flying in and out of here, but what is the cloud exactly?"

"The cloud is an anomaly that appeared in the week after the Seattle incident, bio-organic in nature and it emits an electro-magnetic force that blocks most forms of communication.

It's strong enough to jam the electronic signals and machines and precise enough to scramble your brains if you got close. I'm sure that's keeping you flyers trapped inside."

Lincoln adds on, "Yeah that sounds about right, a couple of days after the explosion, helicopters and planes fell out of the sky and after the walls came up I started seeing people drop from the air too."

Slade continues, "Logically speaking if the cloud wasn't there, there'd be nothing keeping the like of you and Lucy from lifting yourselves out of here-" He's interrupted by Lincoln.

"Well I wouldn't say nothing, there is that giant ass airship hovering around, the kind that shot down a few… things orbiting over us.

Never would've known it was there if it didn't drop its cloaking shield. What was that?"

"What you saw was the helicarrier, *****"The what now"***** S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying command center, *****"Who's shield"***** the department of Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directive, or S.H.I.E.L.D."

Lincoln was confused, "And who are they?" He's never heard of them before, "Are they new or something?"

Slade's mouth flattened, "No, they're what you might call an off-the-books kind of organization sanctioned by the US government, *****"So a spy organization"***** kind of, they've been re-branded as a counter-terrorist, intelligence agency and _special_ law enforcement."

"Is the _special,_ code for mutant?" Lincoln asked as Slade made a grim face.

"No… there was a… different group for that and they're gone… for now."

Lincoln stopped, "W-walk me through this, what actually happened while I was… here?" Lincoln asked hesitantly.

"It's a good thing you're sitting, it's gonna be a long one."

And so the two talked.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln was trudging his way back to his place, it's been hours since he met with Slade.

Right now, he wants to take his mind off of what he learned, two years ago that would have meant downing in as much booze as he could find just for a few hours of relief, but that doesn't work now.

Right now he's mindlessly making his way while thinking on all the big things that happened.

HD struck five more times in the US before moving on.

New mutants were made outside the wall and tensions were high over the _sub-species_ HD created.

They continued their attacks for a total of six months before going dark for 5 more, afterward a joint effort of multiple counter-terrorist agencies at the behest of the U.N. went into action, HD's base was discovered and they were nuked, the circumstances, Slade wasn't clear on and the way he talked about it implies he was personally there before it all went to shit.

The following month after the world could breathe a little easier, a plague emerged in every region of the world, nearly over three-hundred million dead and then it just stopped, there was no cure, nothing, it just stopped infecting people, no one even knows where it came from but it didn't infect mutants, leading people to blame them.

Along with propaganda spearheaded by the presidential-wing in the US, mass killings ensued, Laws were passed that revoked the civil rights and freedom of mutants under the guise that they weren't human.

That started the DUP, headed by Brooke Augustine, Lincoln didn't need to be reminded of her, she and her forces moved throughout the dead-zone and eventually converged in Washington where it all started, using Seattle as their main headquarters.

All mutants that were found and left alive, were exported to a holding facility in Seattle Washington, Curdun Cay.

Mass riots by both mutants and humans raged throughout most of the world for months, lot of more people died, more than the plague that came before.

International incidents and worldwide martial law answered the riots with more violence, more deaths

S.H.I.E.L.D., being one of the underground, secret intelligence agencies, was brought to the light to restore order in the US, partially to make up for the loss of the FBI headquarters (that was in Washington) and the CIA's resources being stretched thin over the state of the world.

The president who pushed for action against mutants got the support to be re-elected, but was indicted and impeached. People already didn't care much for him, then he used the threat of mutants to fuel his re-election campaign, he pushed for abolishing the basic human rights for mutant-kind and his final proposition which would legalized mass genocide.

Along with alleged conspiracy of working with foreign powers in self-interests, the former president was given the boot and the majority of his _co-conspirators_ within his cabinet were removed from power.

Most of this was within the first few years.

Slade told Lincoln so much more, but most of it, not important, the body count from the last few years set back the population by quite a lot.

A little over a billion lives lost and Lincoln really regrets having been told that.

'Maybe it was better for us to be HERE." He thinks to himself.

Lincoln needs a distraction, something to take his mind off things.

He arrives at his place and opens the door to see Lucy with a bottle of what smells like alcohol, a half-naked Kara, sporting a glazed look, a blush and covering her top with her arms at the sight of Lincoln.

The girls see Lincoln and gave a greeting, "HI LINCOLN!" They each slurred.

"…Huh… a distraction to be sure, but a welcomed one." Lincoln mumbled.

**END**

* * *

**[Whew, another big one, even after removing a good chunk of what I planned... again. So as some of you can tell, I recently re-watched Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey JR, great movie by the way.**

**So next chapter is where I'll end it for Lincoln and Lucy for now, it's been kind of a bore for me and really slow for everyone else, but I think I know why, this part, Smallville is like pallet town after conquering the elite four, there's nothing here to showcase what Lincoln can do and man it's going to be a while before he and Lucy really show what they're capable of.**

**Moving on, some of you can guess who Slade's boss might be. Got some more relationship fluff between Lincoln and Lucy, _I wonder what'll happen next_.**

**Some more world building and seeing more of Slade, a lot of characters are going to get back story and development in the future.**

**Happy 4th of July to everyone who celebrates and I hope you're all safe and indoors. Until next time!]**


	11. End

**[*Gun Click* "Say it!" "The loud house doesn't belong to me!" "Say the whole disclaimer!" "The loud house is owned by Nickelodeon and created by Chris Savino - any mention of characters location and etc connected to marvel-comics, DC-comics, Bethesda, Sony, Capcom and etc are also not owned by me!" "Good, now let that be the end of it"]**

**Posted 9/20/20**

* * *

-Chapter 10-

-**Kara**-

Kara was excited this morning, she's not just hanging around people out of her social circle, not that she had one for the last few months, no gossiping old ladies and pervy boys, she notices the stares.

She's found comfort in her new friends.

Well sort of, Lincoln was a sometimes friend, who she didn't see often, but he has a sweet, sweet motorbike that she's adamant to ride one day.

Lucy on the other hand, has been there with Kara for the last week straight. It's funny, it's been nearly two weeks since meeting Lucy and her boyfriend but she's never gotten a good look at her eyes. She gets it, Lucy's whole motif is being dark, mysterious and having a perspective that makes you think she more connected to something… supernatural, this actually makes her fearful of Lucy, especially with that ominous monotone voice of hers.

Lastly there was Megan, it's obvious how hard she's crushing on her cousin, which she can't even fathom, but to each their own.

The three had been hanging out all the time and today would be no different or at least the was the plan for today. When she heard that Lincoln would be lending a hand around the farm, she was both thrilled and angered.

On one hand, she'd see Lincoln more, on the other, they could've asked her, she'd be more than willing to help.

Once again, the family babies her.

Even Conner pulls his weight and he acts like an ass half the time but god-forbid Kara wants to contribute, everyone treats her like she's five.

She CAN help, she CAN do things, so why is she the odd man out, not that she doesn't appreciate having all the down time she could want, and wanting for nothing is pretty cool too, but there are limits, even she doesn't want to feel like dead weight anymore.

If Clark 'plainer than a bagel' Kent and Karen 'the drunk' Danvers could work a farm then why can't she?

She gets dressed; just a white t-shirt and jean-shorts, nothing special.

Kara races downstairs to see her aunt and uncle to make another plea.

'_Maybe this time, I can change their minds_.' She's lost in thought as walks into the kitchen to see her sister and Uncle.

"Hey Kara!" Karen announced.

"Morning, Kara." Pa Kent said as his niece mad his way to her.

"Hey guys, uh, Uncle Jon, I was wondering if I could talk to you real quick?"

"Of course, what's the problem, need something?" He asked politely.

"Yeah, sort of, so I heard from Lucy that Lincoln's going to be helping around the place."

"Yes, he offered as an apology and we're taking him up on it." As those words left her mouth, Karen perked up.

Karen spoke, "~_Oh really_~" She lightly hummed, '_Guess I'll dust off the old cowgirl farm-hand outfit_.'

Jonathan stared at his promiscuous niece and replied, "…Yes," he looked back at Kara, "Back to you, what was the problem?"

Kara shifted a little, "That's the thing, since Conner won't up and moving right now, I was hoping I could take some of the load-"

Kara was interrupted by her _loving_ big sister.

"Nope! We've been over this Kara, we got it covered. Don't stress out over it."

"Look I just wanna-" Karen cuts off her sister.

"I don't get why this is such a big deal for you. You didn't exactly get the power to bench a hundred of yourselves, we can handle it and you'll just get in the way." Karen said it so casually but winced when it came out.

Kara glared daggers at her sister. "Why won't you just give me a chance?"

"Ok-ok, that came out wrong…"

"No, I think that came out right, what, you think I can't carry a few boxes and work a field-"

"You know it's more than that and whatever, it doesn't concern you, if you wanna feel useful, I'm sure someone could use a messenger." And there she goes jamming that foot even further down her throat.

Kara gritted her teeth and was just about ready to lose it.

Jonathan knew what was going to happen next and even though he wanted to stop the shouting match before it started, his wife's words rang in his head, '_Just leave Jon, don't get involved_.' He reminded himself and as he snuck out of the kitchen he could hear the two yelling, "You know, maybe now's a good time to check on the truck."

Ten minutes of screaming had passed and things escalated.

Starting from pointing out flaws in each other, to arguing over who has it easy, name calling, and finally who's the _adult_ in the room.

Both girls are red in the face as Kara continues, "Fat tits, drinking yourself sick and waking up in someone else's bed doesn't make you mature, it makes you a slut!"

Karen, just let words fly out of her mouth, "At least I'm getting laid, at least I'm meeting people, when's the last time you met anyone your own age?"

Kara's fists grind, "Oh, and what would you know about meeting someone _your own age_, I wish Michael could see you now." She snides.

Something snaps inside of Karen, "I bet you wish a lot of things don't you," Kara raised a brow, "I bet you wished you had Mark or Jimmy first." Karen wore a smug grin while Kara looked like her world shattered.

"Y-you, y-you…" Kara couldn't get the words out as tears started forming, either from anger or genuine sadness, who knows.

"Yeah, Yeah, me what, you weren't using them, so what? You're never gonna make a move, so just leave it to the ADULTS and move on."

No one said anything, Karen wore a shit-eating grin and Kara looked ready to throw-down.

In a burst of speed, followed by rushing wind, Kara floated up, flew away, all that could be heard was a whooshing noise that grew fainter by the second.

When Karen found herself alone, for only a moment she felt satisfactory in winning, over what again? But then a few seconds went by and that smug grin inverted and the sweet taste of victory turned into a sour, empty, sinking sensation. She was numbing all over and couldn't call out to her sister. She looked back and forth, hoping that Kara may come back, even if only to give her sister a piece of her mind and then Karen would beg for forgiveness.

But no, nothing.

Just a defining silence that only enhanced this numb feeling inside.

'_I need a drink_!' Were her next thoughts.

-**Lucy**-

The dark spectator for all things spooky was busy minding her own business as she went out for a walk, Salem in tow, or at least tethered to her shadow. While minding her own business that she had felt a mass of negativity pass over her. It was coming from one thing and as a shadow passed her she looked up to see Kara land beside her and looking away.

Kara may or may not have been totally aware that Lucy was next to her because the moment she announced herself, Kara jumped back in shock.

"What is wrong, Kara?" Lucy asked in her typical dry tone.

Kara looked up and felt a calmness wash over her and took a deep breath. She looked to her friend who was in a form-fitting white sweater tucked into a black pencil skirt with dark leggings and with this calming presence, Lucy felt mature and had this air of knowledge about her that made it easy to approach, maybe she'd hear her out.

~X~

Lucy had been listening very carefully to Kara retell her fight with Karen.

Kara had been allowed to hold Salem as a comfort and Lucy hummed.

"So, you are feeling as if your family refuses to acknowledge you and would prefer to treat you as a helpless adolescent?" She asked as Kara nodded.

"It sucks, they don't want me to do anything and then SHE tells me that I'm not an adult, what the hell is up with that anyway, just cause you spread 'em for whoever doesn't make you a grown up, I'm 18 and got powers, what do want from me?" She asked no one in particular.

Lucy felt Kara's anger spike again then spoke, "What exactly are you angry about? Your family treating you like you are a delicate child, your sister reminding you of your differences or her taking your romantic interests?"

Kara paused, what was she angry about, sure Karen upset her, yes her family make her feel weak and useless but past the anger there was this feeling of loneliness that welled inside, it's been there for a while actually and this thing with Karen didn't help either.

"I guess it's just, everyone leaving me alone, even you guys have to leave sometime, you said so yourselves." Kara stopped, trying to find the right words.

"Ah, so it was isolation, and having it thrown in your face by your sister?"

"Maybe… I think it started way before I even came here. Did I ever tell you how I got here?" She asked as Lucy shook her head 'no', "Well then, I think I was around 8 when my mom died.

Karen turned 14 and right after that, me, mom and dad went somewhere, I think we were visiting someone, I don't remember much about that, what I do remember is Karen being grounded for something big, for weeks.

Then mom got called back by someone. A few weeks later, we got THE call and we're burying her.

Dad never drank much as far as I knew but after… she was gone, he slid into it. It started with a couple of cans after dinner, a year later it was a few cans just to get through the day, the next year, at least a bottle every morning.

So when I was 10, he sent me and Karen here to Ma and Pa's for the summer to check himself somewhere to get help and put himself together.

Then summer passed and I thought we'd be going home, the next thing I know, we're being registered for school here in Smallville.

It wasn't bad, we could go to lots of places and everyone was nice, even Conner. Those first couple of years was great… but then the walls came up and everything changed.

And you know or maybe even saw that there's like, nobody my age?" She asked as Lucy nodded, "That's because a few months before those deathclaws showed up, a bunch of people kinda just left and I mean a bunch. Most of my graduating class and a lot of guys older than us like Karen's ex, Michael, a real standup guy. The thing is, we haven't heard from them since and everyone just assumes whatever's out there got them."

This was a bit heavy for Lucy, normally or what counts as normal these days, she and/or Lincoln hear about some slum lord or a super fascist militia faction taking over and spreading, then the two would wreck shop before they got out of control.

Lucy would always lend an ear to friends and family but honestly, this wasn't her field, she can read emotions but that doesn't make her fit to psycho-analyze anyone. But for her friend, Kara, she'd try something.

She put a reassuring hand over Kara's shoulder. "You are feeling as if everyone will abandon you?" To that Kara shrugged.

"I don't know, I guess. But what Karen said really got to me, I could leave anytime I wanted to but I never really wanted, everyone is here and we're safe, I mean, yes, sometimes I want to explore but really I just want to fly around and not have to worry about anything."

Lucy nodded, it's nice having simple needs and dreams of going wherever you want without people trying to gun you down.

Then Kara spoke up again, "What I'm really mad about is that every guy I like went after Karen instead, I mean, c'mon, I get but c'mon, I'm a knockout, right?" She turned to Lucy hoping for validation.

'_7 and a half, maybe an 8_,' Lucy thought before speaking, "…Sure." That at least satisfied Kara a little.

Before they continued, a familiar sight appeared in front of the two.

"Hey you guys." Came the voice of Megan who was in a simple pink dress.

Quickly, the ravenette and the blonde change the mood and turned to redhead with a smile.

~X~

The three had been making small talk when the sight of Lucy's boyfriend made his way across from them.

Lucy perked up but then felt an air of dread loom over Lincoln, she forgot the girls for a second and went over to her beloved to see if she could cheer him up.

After learning he was going to visit Slade, she offered to go with but he refused. She paid it no mind and planned to _cheer_ him up after, maybe give _IT_ another try.

After Lincoln left, Lucy turned back to Kara who's eyes were following him but then turned back with a blush. Lucy could feel her attraction and it wasn't a surprise, who wouldn't want her Lincoln.

But just like that, an idea formed in her dark and twisted imagination, "Hmmm."

When Lucy made her way back to her friends she spoke to Kara, "May I have a word with you, Kara?"

Megan saw it was getting a bit late and said her goodbyes wishing them well.

Now with the two alone, Kara starts, "So, uh, what's up?"

"You like Lincoln." She stated bluntly, a regular Lucy move.

Kara tensed up and tried to deny it at first, "W-what! N-no I-" She cutoff by Lucy.

"You know I can tell what you're feeling and you don't need to lie to me, I'm not mad." She told very calmly.

Kara was still distressed and probably in some hot water now, "Y-you're not?" She asked hoping it wasn't some sort of trick.

"Of course not, why wouldn't you be attracted to Lincoln, sigh, he's wonderful. But it also brings me to an idea of mine."

Kara nodded and motioned for Lucy to continue.

"I was wondering…" She left on a lull.

"Yes." Kara leaned in for more.

"What would you think…"

"Yes." Kara said getting impatient with these pauses.

"About having your fist time with Lincoln." Lucy laid it out for her.

"… My fir-" Kara paused, now registering what Lucy told her. Her face went red and she turned away.

"Yes, your first, Kara. If you are still upset about not having that kind of experience, I'm offering you a chance to have it with Lincoln *****"Uh"***** and myself of course."

Kara was lost in her feelings, she couldn't talk.

Lucy, sensing the fear and curiosity in her friend decided to back off a bit as not to come off too forward. "Sigh, it wouldn't have to mean anything or change anything, we wouldn't tell anyone or if you are uninterested, you can just say no but I know Lincoln would make it pleasant, I'm sure."

Kara's face goes red and she paused for a moment, "Gi… give me a minute." She flies off and is out of sight.

~X~

Five minutes go by and Lucy hadn't seen Kara yet.

"Sigh, perhaps I was too pushy, I should apologi-" As she was talking to herself, she felt, an eagerness and urgency near her she turned to see Kara back with a large wine bottle in hand.

Kara's face is still red but holds up her bottle to Lucy, "This feels like the kind of talk you'd have over a drink and honestly, I don't think I can say yes without it."

Though her eyes were covered by her hair, Lucy's brows shot up, did she really say yes?

~X~

The two had been walking back to Lucy's place, each passing the bottle back to one another while talking, not about anything in particular, just talking.

They made it inside and then a large mass of shadow ejected itself from Lucy's shadow and slides under the bathroom door.

"Sigh, it seems Salem is in a mood." Lucy said as a light blush made itself known and her lips tweaked into a small smile.

"Whatever." Kara dismissed the cat and turned to Lucy, "So, h-how's this gonna work? Do y-you just tell him, 'hey Kara's here and she's horny, do her a solid and take her r-right now', or what?" She giggled to herself as her cheeks become red.

Lucy chuckled a bit as she reaches out with her hand and the bottle that was in Kara's hand starts wobbling, earlier when Lucy pulled in towards her, it flew to her smoothly, now while _under its influence_, the bottle is shaking, she can't focus and what's left of their wine spills its dark liquid all over Kara's top.

The sensation was cold and unpleasant.

Just then, Kara lets out a high-pitch shriek and pulled her top off, leaving her in her white bra. Kara sees her bra is stained too and half-mindedly unhooks her brassiere but then notices Lucy staring.

The blonde covers up as Lucy let out a chuckle and Kara joins her.

The ravenette spoke up, "Well that's one way to get started but perhaps you should wait for Lincoln to arrive." Kara just rolls her eyes, "But still, I'm sure we can find you something to wear before we send you one your way-"

Lucy is interrupted by the sound of the door opening to reveal Lincoln who stops and stares at the scene before him like a deer caught in the headlights.

The girls shared a look before addressing the lone boy in the room, "~HI LINCOLN~." They slurred.

"… Huh… a distraction to be sure, but a welcomed one." He mumbles. "So, what's going on here?" He asks.

Lucy was the first to respond, "Oh, just me and Kara working on something."

"Uh-huh and does this something have to do with ***SNIFF SNIFF*** a bottle of Merlot, huh. I didn't think I'd ever catch _you_ doing this Lucy, what has this town done to you?" He asks in satire.

The two tipsy girls just giggled before he continued.

"And I suppose this has something to do with Kara being shirtless." He tried to pay it no mind but both girls caught Lincoln looking back and admiring Kara's figure more than once.

Lucy smirks before she felt she looked into Lincoln and felt his casual face as a mask for a feeling of distress, one that put a damper on her moon, '_What has put you down, dear heart_?' she asks herself before she remembers what she and Kara were discussing earlier.

With little more than a thought, Lucy sent out an aura that both the blonde and the silverette felt for sure.

Kara was a bit embarrassed seeing Lincoln walk in on her state of undress, even if she was _heavily_ considering joining Lucy and Lincoln for the night, she thought there'd be a plan and they'd ease her into it. But as soon as those fears and worried reared their way into her brain, they left and were replaced with a _burning_ sense of curiosity and excitement. Something else was burning inside her, her breathing hitched, her face got really hot and she swore she could see her own breath, something was going on.

Lincoln needed a good diversion from his talk with Slade and it seems he got it. He wasn't a fool, Lucy and a half-naked Kara, getting drunk together meant something happened or is going to happen, was it about him or them having a good time, he's not quite sure but with how frisky Lucy's been getting and her recent proposal for a change in their relationship, Lincoln's either reading too much into this or it might turn into an exciting night for him.

But he can't think like that now, after everything he just leaned and with Slade _knowing_ about them, Lincoln has a lot to talk to with Lucy, they may need to _consider_ leaving pretty soon.

As those thought form, he's overcome with a deep desire, a familiar feeling of when his lover want him to know she's in the mood to fool around and _wants_ him. '_Fuck! Now, Lucy_?'

Lincoln turns and tries to regain his composure, he really needs to talk with Lucy and he can't let himself be distracted.

That was until he felt Lucy hug him from behind and her large chest pressed against his back, The feeling was back and stronger this time, she really want him in the mood to ravish her, '_Maybe just a little- NO_!'

He turns to tell Lucy something but she floats up and cups his cheeks in her hand and proceeds to press her lips onto his.

Lincoln feels his mind melting, his head feeling fuzzy but then he snaps out of it only to find himself hovering over the bed and dropped onto it with a bounce.

The silverette tries to get up only to find his arms and legs pinned to the bed with his limbs spread, via Lucy's **TK**, and speaking of, Lucy struts to the bed Lincoln's pinned on and climbs atop on her hands and knees then she perches her butt on his waist, straddling him.

Lincoln gets a good look at Lucy's face, minus her eyes, her cheeks have a faint blush, maybe from the alcohol, maybe from what they're doing in front of Kara, who knows.

Lucy whispers to her white haired lover, "Typically, this isn't the kind of bondage I'm into… but for now I want you to sit back, relax and let the pleasure take over, dear heart." She made her command as she sits back and peel off her sweater to reveal her bountiful mounds contained by a solid black bra.

Lucy leans down and peppers Lincoln's face with kisses as one of her hands points to Kara and beckons her with a 'come here' gesture.

Kara, who is taking in the enticing view sees Lucy give her the signal to join in and without hesitation, she undoes her shorts, shoes and tosses them, now she clad in white panties as she makes her way to the bed.

Lincoln bravely tried to fight off Lucy but his mind is assaulted so many times that it makes him give in to Lucy's desires for them. He actually forgot why he was refusing in the first place, '_Why was I fighting it, this is gonna be a good night._' He thinks as there seems to be an itch at the back of his head, some nagging feeling that he pushes out.

Lincoln loses himself in the many kisses that he just barely noticed the shift in weight on the bed, he turns his head and the first thing he sees are boobs. Somewhat large globes with bright pink nips, he looks up to see a glossy eyed Kara, smiling and looked to be waiting for something.

Lincoln tries to reach out for the blonde but his arms are still bound.

"Ah-Ah Lincoln, I've told you, sit back and let the pleasure take over." She highlights her point by grinding her rear on Lincoln's crotch just in time to feel something hardening, "Ah, I see someone's finally ready to listen to reason. Kara, feel free to have a turn while I get ready."

With that, Lucy floats off of Lincoln as she wobbles in the air and lands back on the floor.

Back with Lincoln, the moment Lucy got off of him, he felt the force of her TK lift but then he felt a mass climb on him again, Kara was straddling him this time.

Lincoln, even with his mind clouded, sees Kara's face and knows she not _in her right mind_. "Kara," he says quietly, almost in a whisper, "You were drinking, you don't want to do this and I wouldn't want you to wake up with regrets." He pleaded, almost like he's trying to argue with himself and not the blonde for some reason.

Kara responds by leaning down and smashing her lips onto his and holds onto his head. Lincoln felt the need to stop her but doesn't, even with his hands free, does he want it to stop.

The Danvers girl ends the kiss to desperately suck in some air, nearly choking on it, but then she looks back down at Lincoln, "I r-really want this, Lincoln. I only had a few drinks so I could do this," She grabs his hands and places them on her boobs. "Ah!" She gasped, "I've been w-waiting for you to do that since I met you." She told him.

Lincoln just gives in, his eyes, still glowing, dilated and he let his hands roam all over Kara's chest, squeezing them, pinching a nipple every now and again and she responds with moan and rocked her hips back and forth on his crotch like she saw Lucy do.

Kara felt something long and hard form underneath her, ***GASP*** '_Is that his_-' She stops her thoughts as she went back to grinding on Lincoln's hard on, she felt a shiver creep up her back when it rubbed her cloth covered nub and she had to put her hands on Lincoln's chest to keep herself steady.

Lincoln felt the itch in the back of his skull gnaw at him again but it was pushed back when he saw Lucy.

She just undid her bra and let her milky white mounds flow freely. Lucy turns and undoes her skirt letting it fall and giving Lincoln a good look at her round, stocking clad butt. But then she bends over, pulling down her leggings and black panties all together as her hips sway, to get them off faster.

Lincoln was given quite the show and his attention was pulled back by Kara who pulled him up for a hot, deep kiss, her tongue quickly penetrating his mouth but it was just there, she was new to this and didn't know what she was doing, but that was fine, Lincoln could show her what to do.

He wrestled her tongue with his and to no one's surprise, he was dominating, she attempted to push back, but with Lincoln's experience and power, she was putty in his hands.

His control showed when he pushed her onto her back and continued to dominate.

Kara couldn't help but fall prey to this beast, it was obvious, he was in control and she would just be along for the ride.

The air was being sucked out of Kara's lungs and as she tried to push back to capture his breath but she was fading from the lack of oxygen.

Kara, for some reason, wasn't fighting off the darkness that was taking over but instead welcomed it, it wasn't death that was coming for her but the sheer intensity of her and Lincoln's passion that was causing her to black out (and the lack of air).

Suddenly, Lincoln let go and Kara immediately took in life-saving air. Tears were forming and she looked desperate to disengage but the big open smile she wore told another story, it said to 'keep going and really test my limits'.

She was treated to the sight of Lincoln removing his shirt and saw just how chiseled he was.

Back at the house a week earlier, she only caught a glimpse of his sculpted form. This wasn't just another boy, this was a man with rock hard abs and muscle fibers that seemed to be made of steel cables.

The MAN leans down as Kara throws her arms around his head and they pick up where they left off, Kara then wraps her legs around his waist to hold onto him even tighter.

Lincoln has had enough of taking it easy on Kara and grabs a boob with one hand and fondles her ass with the other. The blonde moans into his mouth as he doesn't let up. He feels Kara rocking her hips again and grinding her crotch onto his.

Meanwhile, a very nude Lucy was watching with enthusiasm, originally she intended Kara to make her move on a prone Lincoln but her focus weakened and she let go of him, now she wanted to see how she'd handle him, obviously she couldn't and now it's just getting hot, '_That's right, my love, show her why you're on top, make her crave you like you did me_!' Lucy smirks and stalked right to the two.

Lucy hugs onto Lincoln's arm and whispers, "Mmmmhh, I hope you haven't forgotten me. I need attention too."

Lincoln breaks off of Kara and turns to Lucy with narrowed eyes, "Oh I could never forget you, Luce." He says as he takes a hand off of Kara, despite silent protest and wraps it around Lucy, grabbing a handful of her ass and plays with her just as he's doing with Kara.

Lincoln felt his body freeze and is put on his back while the girls crawl on him and plant their lips all over his face and chest. His arms were free and he traced their lovely bodies with them, as he reached their lower backs, Lucy felt his fingers slip into the folds of her womanhood and Kara felt fingers trace the outline of her pussy, Lincoln noticed a massive wet spot on her panties.

Lucy was really getting into it, "Yes, put that meeting out of your mind, Lincoln."

'_Meeting_,' Lincoln's head was really starting to tingle.

"Your only concern should be what you're going to do with us. Whatever Slade said to put you down, I promise, this will lift your spirit."

'_Meeting… Slade_-' the itch came back and something pierced the back of his brain with a sharp pain and pushed itself to the front of his mind, '_OH MY GOD_!'

Lincoln's eyes revert back to how they were and just now saw where he was, Lucy and Kara were kissing and slobbering all over him.

He takes a moment to thinks about it, everything just seems to stand still, '… _Dammit_!' He screams in his head.

Lincoln sighs and gives the girls one last squeeze before he removes his hands from their rear and his hands glide up their chests and made his way to their faces.

The girls took this as a sign to move in on his lips.

Lucy was so lost in her own pleasure, she didn't even notice Lincoln's fingers light up with electricity until it was too late, ***GASP*** "Linco-"

Just like that, they were out of it. Lucy and Kara, slumped over on top of Lincoln who's wearing a scowl.

"Dammit Linc, what were you thinking." He berated himself, "It could've waited… til morning came… *****Sigh***** stop it Linc, it would've been wrong and you know it."

~X~

Lucy and Kara had been tucked into bed while Lincoln sat on a chair, petting Salem.

He's looking at them, it might've been creepy some time ago but now this is just a regular thing for him.

His eyes lingered on Kara and what she'd told him. Was she really that attracted to him, had she been waiting since they met to get to this point?

Then his gaze went back to Lucy, '_She must really want this to work if she's going this far with one of the few friends she has here_.' He stares back at Salem who seems to be sleeping, he lays her on Lucy's chest and leaves them be.

'_I guess I sort of owe it to Lucy to try things her way, we're not getting any closer and at least she's doing something about it_.'

Lincoln turns to the audience he KNOWS doesn't exist, "What do you guys think?"

He knows no response can be heard but he's not sure what to do, the first time he and Lucy tried to go all the way, she freaked out, it must've been horrifying for her then. Sometime later she actually suggested they break up, Lincoln remembered his heart skipping a beat out of shock and fear.

It took convincing but they stayed together, obviously.

Lincoln takes a long look at Kara and sighs, he needs a smoke, it's felt like forever since the last time.

-**Karen**-

The sun rises over the Kent house and the light reveals a disheveled Karen on the porch with bags under her eyes and empty bottles, most likely booze, littered around her.

The family was understandably upset with Karen. They tolerated a lot with her, like the constant drinking. Sleeping around, being a grown woman, Karen can do what she wants so long as she's safe. But hurting Kara the way she had was a step too far.

Sure everyone treats her a bit too delicate but ever since the walls came up, the farm has had to go through a few changes here and there.

Kara was meant for flying and it's not like she's a gym-rat.

Before the whole mutant thing, the farm just made enough to feed the family and sell some for extra money, the Kent – Danvers family was content.

Now though, with resources limited and the Kent farm being one of the few in town, which was cut off from the other towns for safety, the hard but manageable work Jonathan did on his own had to be pushed onto his boys and Karen sometimes.

It's funny, Uncle Jon didn't even want the family farm when he was younger, but later in life he settled down with the peaceful and quiet town of Smallville being a good place to start his family.

But back to the farm work, it's good to have a few hands that can carry hundreds of pounds without strain, really makes things easier than having a few dozen hands that you'd probably have to pay in some way and don't get Uncle Jon wrong, he trusts his community but the people aren't above nabbing a little extra something-something from the fields they're tending or even lifting some leftover building material.

Having his boys do the work was just more convenient. There was a lot to do in terms of manual labor but again super strength and plenty of stamina made it easier, not quicker but a lot more doable.

It's not that anyone thinks less of Kara but her power would only be useful to the farm in very specific circumstances. Manual labor doesn't suit her meanwhile Karen and the boys are much quicker than her, without Lincoln, the family would have reluctantly let Kara help.

Again, no one thinks badly of her, but no one wants to see her put in twice the effort for half the results. The farm and by extension, Smallville as a whole, can't afford to halt harvesting, repairs, transport and ect just to strengthen her self-worth when it comes to work.

Karen finds herself thinking back to her argument with Kara.

She said horrible things to her little sister, telling her she wasn't an adult and that she had no value, GOD she feels like a jackass. Her sister means everything to her, since the beginning.

Before her mom died, Karen had just celebrated her 14th birthday, with her family. She skipped out on visiting one of her parent's friends just to stay home and do nothing, y'know typical city teen-girl stuff.

What she didn't count on was her friends from school to stop by and after hearing Karen was home alone. They brought their boyfriends and they invited their other friends and then other guys herd and came over.

It got out of hand but Karen didn't want to be the one to end her friends' fun. Things spiraled when idiots brought beer to the _PARTY_ and it devolved into a pseudo-orgy dance-club type deal.

Karen hooked up with a guy she liked from school, an older boy, it wasn't great and would soon find out it wasn't worth it a few days later when she found out he had a girlfriend and he pretended not to know her.

Karen was lucky she got everyone out before her parents came back. She hid the evidence of the party as best as she could but of course, her mom found out, empty beer bottles in random places and the hidden security cameras in the house got her busted.

Angry doesn't quite cover the emotions displayed by her parents the next day. She was grounded for quote, "Until your children have children", end quote. Poor Kara didn't even know what happened and tried to cheer up her big sister as best as she could and it worked for the most part.

Then her mom was called away and died in duty.

Karen watched little by little, day by day as her life became more and more unstable. Her father became more and more broken, her sister isolated herself, it was up to Karen to hold her family together. Seeing her father drink so much had worn down her nerves and within the next two years, she found herself having a few drinks when things got hard for her.

One day, she just understood that she and her sister should not be living in conditions like theirs, so she called her Uncle Jon and Aunt Martha for help.

After working out a deal, her father agreed to go to rehab and get himself straightened out, all the while the girls would live in Smallville for the summer.

Summer came and went but their father hadn't gotten in touch with them.

One day she woke up to the sound of a car driving away and when she saw Ma and Pa, they had all of the girls' papers, birth records, forums for legalized custody and a few other things.

Their dad abandoned them.

It was clear to Karen almost immediately and that led to some troubled years until HE showed up.

Michael Holt, Karen's rock. Tall, black and a real gentleman, Michael was what Karen needed to keep from drifting away.

But all good things come to an end, after the walls came up, more than a few people wanted to leave and see else was there, a lot of people in Kara's age group and plenty from Karen's and above.

Karen and Michael got into a huge fight about leaving Smallville together, Michael felt trapped and wanted to maybe start a family with Karen, she was just fine where she was and wanted thing to stay the same.

Some things were said and Karen's temper may have flared at the wrong time, Michael broke it off with her and stayed away.

Karen spent her free time drinking and then she happened across a guy, nervous about leaving.

She proposed and idea, while intoxicated and popped that guy's cherry, she woke up the next day feeling disgusted but when the guy thanked her, she had this weird, fuzzy feeling about it and so she did it again and again, eventually finding a few of her sister's classmates in bed with her including a former crush and a close friend.

It's weird, she couldn't remember their names until she threw it back in Kara's face, and now she can't recall what it was.

The group departed a few months before the incident with the deathclaws and no one's heard from them since.

And then Lincoln and Lucy came into town, Lincoln was something special. There was something foreign yet familiar about him, he was powerful and dangerous and just held this aura of authority that was similar to Slade and there have been times when she's hit up the lieutenant just to be shot down, just like Lincoln.

It's not that she's suddenly in love with this stranger, but the rejection, the mystery and curiosity surrounding this man peeks her interest. Lucy too, for similar reasons, being connected to Lincoln just makes her interesting too.

Back to the porch, Karen had waited all night for her sister to come home and everyone knows better than to bother her about this.

'_Where would she go_?' The though terrified her, had her sister finally taken off, for good? No, that can't be, even if Kara wanted to Leave, she go back for her stuff, some of it at least, there were things she valued and would never leave without.

The only place she'd go is into town but she hardly has a friend there, '_Well maybe except for Lucy and Lin_-' She pauses as he has a thought, '_She wouldn't, would she? I mean I did rub it in her face that she's still not a **woman** yet… but she wouldn't… not with him… right_?' Her thoughts raced.

Kara would turn to friends to put her up for the night to get away from her sister but that's the thing, all of her friends are gone, except for Lucy and Lincoln. Would she go to him for sex, normally, Karen would say no but after yesterday, she's not sure and sure Kara was an adult and could do what she wanted but this feels like something Karen would do and she knows she's not right in the head, the question is does she think Kara might do what she's thinking.

Karen springs up and walks to the truck but then stops to think, she been up all night and had more than a few in her, she didn't feel buzzed but…

*****SIGH***** "Looks like I'm running." And she runs down the road into town.

~X~

With the sun out, Karen's barely working up a sweat as she makes it into town. She sees people walking around as they got ready for the day and makes her way to the motel for Lincoln and Lucy.

She approached their door and grabs onto the knob but then she hears something.

***CLAP CLAP CLAP*** That clapping noise makes her heart drop, she was too late, Kara was getting it on with Lincoln… or maybe that was just Lincoln with Lucy, they are together, maybe Karen was just jumping to conclu- "OH, wow Lincoln, that's amazing!"

Karen nearly had a heart attack. That was definitely her sister's voice. Kara was being screwed by the sexy, sexy drifter and here she was listening to the clapping of their flesh.

What right did she have to barge in on her sister's sex-life, she pretty much brags about it all the time to her anyway.

This kind of hurts in a way, Kara was making a mistake, doing this just to prove a point, it might do something for her now but down the line she may come to regret it, just like _her_ first time.

And God-forbid, there was an accident and her baby-sister got knocked-up, would this bastard even be there for her, yes Lincoln is a hot piece of meat but that doesn't mean he gets a free pass.

Unknown to her, her hand starts glowing and the knob is getting redder and redder.

'_And why Kara anyway, I was here AND throwing myself at him, oh this is just like her, to hold a grudge and strike where she knew where it'd hurt_.' Karen thought before-

** *SSSSSSSSSH***

There was a high-pitch boiling sound coming from Karen's hand and as she looked down she saw the door knob was glowing and the locking mechanism was burning through the wooden frame.

** *CREEEAAAK***

The door wobbled free from her end to reveal a shirtless Lincoln, who had been doing clapping push-ups. Kara was on a bed watching Lincoln work out and Lucy was nowhere in sight.

When the creaking sound was made, the blonde and silverette turned to see a stunned Karen who looked like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Karen said nothing for a while until her cheek brightened and she gasped out, "Wow, you should get that looked at, see you at home Kara!" With that, she ran off, her body emitting a glow before taking off at high speeds.

Lincoln and Kara said nothing but then the bathroom door opened and out came Lucy.

"Lincoln what was that sound earlier, is everyth-" She stopped to see the partially melted door knob and burnt frame, "What happened?" She asked in her dull voice.

Kara sighed, "My sister happened."

-**_XxX_**-

After Lincoln and Lucy sent Kara on her merry-way, the two had fell into a silence, Salem had emerged from Lincoln's shadow and hopped into Lucy's arms.

"Sigh, Lincoln I know last night did not appear ideal to you but I assure you, Kara and I had come to an agreement before you even found us in our _minor_ state of intoxication. Honestly, this was on yo-"

"Slade knows!" Lincoln interrupted her.

"… Knows… knows what?" She asked.

"About US, he _KNOWS_, Lucy." Lincoln said with an edge, hoping she understood.

Though her hair covered her eyes, Lincoln could see the gears turning and when her mouth gaped he knew, she knew.

"Yes, Lucy, he knows who we are." He continued, "Last night I wanted to bring this up… we might have to _disappear_." That was code for run away.

Lucy gulped, "What happened?"

~X~

Lincoln had explained from start to finish what happened in their meeting.

"Sigh, so you mean you slipped up and outed us both." She stated bluntly.

Lincoln hung his head in shame and mumbled, "…yeah."

Lucy nodded, "It'll be alright, my love, though we may have been exposed by Slade, he claimed uninterested in letting others know." She reasoned, Slade seemed alright and excepting, if only a little weird, with their encounter with him and his group a while back, she has a few thoughts about him, he might be a little insane but that remains to be seen.

Lincoln looked serious, "Right because EVERYONE we meet is _soooo_ trustworthy," He says with obvious sarcasm, "We may have to accelerate our plan."

"Sigh, are you referring to and I quote 'operation; find our way to the border, get word back home and leave this God forsaken hellhole' end quote"

"Hey! I shortened it!" He points out.

"Oh yes, operation; let's get the hell out of here. But on a more serious note, these people have been nothing but kind and it's kind of off putting for us but maybe that's a good thing here.

I understand Slade knowing may put us at risk but no more than it has in the past *****"except now he has our names, that won't be good for us IF we get back home"***** WHEN-when we get back and sure this might be a problem later but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Lucy takes one of Lincoln's hand into her own, "We'll make it through this, we always do."

Lincoln takes a moment to think and he nods to Lucy, silently he cues that he's willing to stay in Smallville until the time is right.

With a small smile, Lucy takes off.

"Where are you going?" Lincoln asks.

"To talk to Kara," this alarmed Lincoln, "After last night, I want to confirm her feelings and maybe let her know WE may have to leave sooner than later. I'd rather we not pretend last night didn't happen and talk it through."

Lincoln looked down to think on it and then he looked at her and nods, Lucy floats away and Lincoln is left alone.

"I guess I better tell Slade about the door." He talks to himself and makes his way out.

-**Kara**-

After getting back home, Kara is met with the sight of her older sister.

The two blondes refused to look at one another for some time.

Kara typically knows how this goes, this silence goes on until she makes the first mov-

"I'm sorry." Karen spoke first shocking her little sister.

"W-what-"

"I'm sorry for what I said, I know I'm such a horrible sister to you *****"No you're-"***** Yes I am and you don't need to pretend I'm not. I ignored you… a lot, I've kept things from you, I know you've been really lonely and I just stood on the sidelines thinking nothing was wrong and worst of all when you came to us wanting to help, I threw it back in your face and even went so far as to hurt you again. I'm sorry… I don't know what's wrong with me…"

Kara felt that her sister wanted to keep going but didn't know what else to say.

It's true, Kara's been very lonely, that is until Lucy and Lincoln came into town, she's still feeling alone but now there's some excitement back in her life.

After what happened the other day, Kara wasn't sure she'd even want to talk with Karen and even thought Karen's hasn't been doing a very good job of being a big sister lately, she's still trying at least and that's something.

Karen wants to keep going but came to a stop, she wanted to talk about her feelings and get something off her chest but couldn't find the words or didn't want to let them out, but that doesn't matter now as her baby sister pulls her into a hug.

"Thank you." Karen says as they both have a moment in silence before letting go, "So now that we've cleared the air, wanna tell me what you were doing with Lincoln and Lucy." She says with a grin and Kara's face reddens.

"N-nothing, they put me up for the night." She defends herself.

Karen doesn't look convinced and looks her up and down, "Uh-huh, so what's with that stain?"

Kara looks on her chest to see the big wine spill over her shirt, "Oh, uh, that's-"

"It was juice."

"**AHHH**!" Both sisters jump in fright to the ominous voice of Lucy, the ebon-haired, floating specter of a woman beside them.

"LUCY, you gotta stop doing that!" Kara yells out. She looks over to her sister who was holding her chest, trying to catch her breath.

"My apologies, but I needed to talk to you in private, Kara." The young blonde nodded.

~X~

In the privacy of Kara's room, the two friends were on the blonde's bed.

Kara was waiting for her ebon-haired friend to begin.

Lucy was nervous, '_Can you really do this? You know Lincoln wouldn't approve but Kara has been plague by secrets, lies and hidden agendas, if THIS is going to continue then you need to come clean, she deserves the truth after what you almost let her do with Lincoln_.'

Lucy was debating with herself as Kara was having a mild panic attack, '_Oh God, why did I do this. She's probably mad about how I just threw myself at Lincoln, I can't believe we almost did it. Wait- what happened after we made out… I woke up in my underwear and Lincoln was fully dressed, did last night happen or am I just crazy and dreamt it all up, am I still drea-_'

Kara is broken out of her thoughts when Lucy coughs into her fist.

Lucy could feel Kara's distress, presumably over her and what they both did together.

"Sigh, about last night Kara," this alarmed her, "I must apologize that we could not go all the way as intended but Lincoln needed to convey something to me and was in no mood to fool around with us and thusly ended our night, even though he hates himself for it." She mused at the end.

Kara was having a fit, '_We really were gonna do it_,' He face flushed and her eyes could not meet Lucy's face, '_I was really about to- wait Lincoln stopped it_?'

Lucy continues, "And I must apologize again, for using my powers to suppress your inhibitions, truth be told, you probably didn't need it after what was in you but it just happened, if you feel as though I've crossed a line, I'll understand if you cannot look at me the same way…" Lucy left it out there.

Kara was at a loss, she just found out what happened last night really happened and… she's still a virgin. But here was Lucy apologizing for something she decided on.

*****Sigh***** "Lucy, thank you for… wanting to own up to last night but I made those choices because I wasn't sure I could say yes any other way, right now, I'm glad it didn't happen that way, especially since I couldn't remember what exactly went down… but I'm not mad, really." She assured her friend.

Lucy flickered a smile and cleared her throat, "Well… good, now onto another matter. Are you still interested in what we talked about?" She asked.

Kara blushed again, "You mean joining you guys?" Lucy nods, "Well… I mean… I'd have to think about it." She was too shy to say yes and didn't want to say no.

Lucy nodded to herself, "Very well then, but if we are to continue from the other night at a later date, then you need to know the truth." Lucy's heart was racing.

"W-what truth?" Kara asked hesitantly.

Lucy's insides were fluttering as she struggled to get the words out, "When I told you, I've known Lincoln all my life, that wasn't hyperbole. It's fair to say HE'S known me all my life… because he was there…" She paused as Kara leaned in.

The blonde was at a loss, '_What's she trying to tell me exactly_?' She thought.

"In fact you could say he's a part of my family, sigh… because he is *****"W-wait what"***** L-Lincoln… at one point… was someone I once called… brother."

She finally said it, Lucy turned her face as not to gauge Kara's reaction but could still _feel_ it.

Suffice to say, Kara had not seen that coming. Shocked, was her initial reaction, a little frightened over this revelation and some clarity over the double meanings Lucy had been dropping when they talked. Now, Kara felt something churning inside of her, she's heard about things like this, especially in jokes targeted at communities like hers.

A brother and sister shacking up, '_Ar-is she serious… with her brother_!" She screamed in her head.

Just as Kara had opened her mouth, Lucy's hand rose and kept her from talking.

"Before you say anything, he's not related to me or my family."

Kara looks down then back to Lucy, "I'm not sure if that's any better *****"I-I-"***** You've known him for how long- wait no, you grew up together *****"But he-"***** seriously, with your brother *****"I don't see him tha-"*** **what is wrong with you two?

Y'know, maybe the reason you can't go all the way is because you know it's not right! And HIM, he's definitely got some screws loose to prey on his own sister like that-"

"STOP!" Lucy yelled at Kara as she flinched back as a feeling that could only be described as DOOM was all around her. "I only told you… because I thought you would give me a chance to explain how it happened, because I thought you'd be accepting, because I thought you were different…" Lucy looks down, "But I guess I was wrong… again." Lucy looked at Kara with fury written over her face, "I should have kept my mouth shut, had I known you would have thrown it all back in my face and remind me how much of a _FREAK_ I am, then I never would have told you anything!" She growled.

Kara was drawing a blank, "I… I-I" Lucy had come to her with an important secret. She could have been a touch more sympathetic or at least merciful in her dismissal for their forbidden relationship.

Lucy shut off her empath, she didn't want to feel the disgust that was coming her way, she couldn't bare it a second time, "I suppose you don't have to worry about another _friend_ leaving you-we'll be gone by morning!"

With that Lucy levitated and flew out of the room, down the stairs, flew past Karen, opened the door with her mind and was gone.

Kara was still stunned, sitting on her bed and stammering a response as if Lucy hadn't left.

It was then that Karen had entered her little sister's room.

"Knock, knock," She said before pausing at her sister muttering something, "Kara… Care-bear… K-DAWG… BABY SIS!" She shouted while violently shaking Kara by the shoulder.

"Wha-what, what happened… Lucy!" Kara shouted in realization.

Karen looked concern to say the least, "Sis, what happened, Lucy just took off, she looked pretty pissed too."

Kara took a second to look her sister in the eyes, '_Maybe she'll understand, that or blab, ugh whatever, they're gonna be gone… cause of me_.' She thought somberly.

Kara sighed and began her long explanation.

~X~

Karen just stood silently and stared at her sister.

Kara was having seconds thoughts of having told her sister what she just lear-

***SLAP***

Kara's face was now facing a wall and her cheek was blistering red from a stinging pain, "Wh-what-"

"You asshole!" Karen shouted at her sister. *****"Wait what-"***** "Your first friend in months, MONTHS and when she tells you something like this, opens up to you, you blow up like that, throw it all back in her face."

Kara has been more inclined to stay in her 'shell' these days, Lucy got her excited to go out.

"Look I get that all your friends ditched you to go exploring the dead-zone but the first girl your age to stick around and trusted you enough with her secret, hell even invited you to share her man, _to which I'm still mad about_, I never would've thought YOU of all people would turn on her.

I mean, with all that Asian-comic, animoo crap you're always watching, I thought you'd be into it."

Kara countered, "But they're brother and sister-"

"So," Karen said plainly, "She told you, they're not blood, what's the harm, hell, Lincoln's adopted, I say he's fair game."

Kara tilted her head, "How can you be so… nonchalant about this?"

Karen narrowed her eyes, "Kara, you've known them a while now, do they seem like bad people to you?"

"I… uh, no," She said quietly.

"… do you remember those raiders almost a year ago, the ones that shot uncle Jon? *****"Yeah"***** do you think they were bad people, *****"Well yeah, they almost tore up the farm, almost killed Pa"***** right, so do you think people like them just came from nowhere?"

Kara wasn't sure what she was getting at.

"People like them didn't exist six years ago, they were probably normal people, with normal lives until they got trapped in this nightmare with the rest of us and had to do whatever they could to survive, even attacking other people for scraps, *****"what's your point"***** my POINT is why aren't Lincoln and Lucy like that?

Bet you anything Lincoln's balls hadn't dropped before he had to step up as the man and had to look after Lucy, who knows what they went through, all the while, we've been pretty lucky to be where we are, we never had a rough go of it like those two.

Maybe when all you have is each other, you stop seeing what's so wrong about it, at least they're not related, maybe THEY can make it work, I don't know.

But is this something worth losing a friend over?" Karen was about to leave when she turned back to her sister, "And make up your mind fast, cause if you're out then I'm taking your spot." Kara could only give her sister a shocked and disgusted look, "What, he's not MY brother." She smirked before walking off.

-**_XxX_**-

After explaining the situation to Slade, Lincoln made his way back to his place, with a new key to the room next door.

Lincoln had gotten back to his room when he heard sniffling.

Worry ensued when Lincoln saw his former sister turned lover with her back turned to him and her shoulders rising and falling as she dry-heaved with heavy sobs.

"L-Lucy?" He tries to get her attention but his soft voice was overpowered by her cries, He walks up behind her and sees Lucy holding herself, "Lucy." He said firmly this time but she still hadn't turned.

Then he wraps his arms around her waist, and she jumped at his touch but soon melted into it as her sobs grew softer and softer.

"Lucy, what happened?" He asked before she broke free from his embrace and turned to face him. Lincoln could see her face streamed with black streaks from her eyeliner. For just a moment, a dark feeling crept up Lincoln's spine and a voice put it into words, 'Whoever did this to her is a dead man!' His darker thoughts took hold but for a moment until he steered himself out of it and brought her back into a hug, '_Lucy comes first, nothing else matters_.'

Lucy buried her face into Lincoln's chest and breathed heavily, she composes herself enough to mutter something.

Lincoln couldn't hear her, "What was that, Luce?"

She lifted herself off of him to show her face and looked him in the eyes, "I told Kara… about us and… she didn't take it well." She said with more misery in her voice than apathy.

At first Lincoln was understandably upset, he assumed Lucy was going to talk Kara through what happened, not straight up tell her 'hey I'm sort of banging my step-brother, sorry I didn't tell you last night when we were about to get down with him'.

Lucy's face told him not to get angry, instead _just hold me, please_.

And so he did.

~X~

A familiar sight; the two laying in a bed together as Lucy held onto Lincoln and buried herself deep into his embrace.

Lucy had told him what she told Kara and her… reaction, the judgment and finally; her feelings toward Lucy.

Lincoln hated seeing her like this, it's hard enough for her to make any lasting friendship and with them constantly moving, and it's even harder to find anyone to confide in. Sure HE was someone she go to but Lucy needs confidants that will keep her secrets _from_ Lincoln, preferable female is a given. To find someone who she could trust in such a short time was rare and to even invite them into their relationship was a huge risk on its own, then telling that person the nature of her and Lincoln's connection was just another risk and well… her luck couldn't pull through this time, or maybe this wasn't a secret to tell someone you've known such a short time.

At first, Lincoln wanted to tear Kara a new one, maybe that was 'the protective boyfriend' in him talking and not 'the monster' in him but either way he pulled himself from those thoughts fast.

Now would be a pretty good time to get some chocolate or ice cream but unfortunately, Lucy's grip isn't letting up but he can stay with her and run his hand over her in comfort.

"So, do you want to get out of here?" Lincoln asked her.

Lucy took the chance to look him in his molten golden-amber eyes, her lips quivered and her hands shook, "I-I want to-"

-**Kara**-

It had gotten dark, nearly the whole day passed her by as she laid in bed thinking.

She had a few naps, maybe they would provide some insight, no, her dreams were blank and right now, her own words rang through her head.

Her thoughts raced as she continues to ask herself question after question.

Why did she say that to her? Why couldn't she let Lucy say her piece before judging? Does she have the right to judge?

Then her thoughts circle back to her sister. Just the other day, Karen had made her feel like crap and now she did the same to Lucy, and she was confiding in her.

Was she a bad friend? Maybe, she sure wasn't a supportive one or a very understanding one. Did Lucy deserve any of what she said, not really, Lucy could've said nothing and she'd be none the wiser.

Why would she drive Lucy away, she wasn't hurting anybody and Lucy trusted her enough to come forward, and how does she return the gesture…? She's lost too many friends, all of which are probably dead for all she knows and now she's throwing away another because this thing was her brother was… unusual to say the least and down-right wrong at most.

'_But they're not related_…' Same diff, they grew up together, '_But they're hardly the same people they should've been had THIS not happen_.' Why is she arguing over this, it's pretty straight forward… right?

*****Sigh***** "Maybe a little stroll will clear my head." She tells herself.

Kara opens a window and floats out of her house.

~X~

Kara had flown by the motel, it was obvious what she was doing there, and after a 15 minute flight, she knew WHY?

'_I need to apologize_,' She's still uncomfortable about what went down that morning but it changes nothing, Lucy is still her friend and hopefully she'll still think that too.

After Landing in front of their door, Kara held out her fist, prepared to knock but stopped herself.

Could she do it, can she make amends, keep her friend and let her say her piece?

Alright, she can do this.

** *Knock- CREEEEAAAAK***

That's right, Karen ruined their door. Even so, as rude as it was, Kara peeked in side and saw… nothing.

The beds were stripped clean, bags were nowhere in sight, absolutely no trace of Lincoln or Lucy.

'_What's going on here, why aren't they here, it's not like they'd pack up and_ lea-' Her thoughts took a pause as she remembered what Lucy told her.

_ You don't have to worry about another friend leaving you-we'll be gone by morning._

She was too late, they were gone and it was all her fault.

Why was she such an ass, yes they were step-siblings and maybe it was better than the alternative but it still felt sort of wrong then. Now, she couldn't care less, Lucy was nice and sort of creepy but she wasn't too in your face about it, she genuinely cares about her and their talks were proof of that.

Kara walked out of the empty room, covering her mouth as tears flowed free. She couldn't help it, knowing that she won't have the chance to apologize, punched her right in the gut. Kara was whimpering, trying to get a hold of herself but the tears kept gushing as cries escaped her covered mouth.

'_I'd give anything to have a chance to say sorry to you Lucy, my comics, games, hell even a full kiss on the mouth_-'

"Kara?"

She was caught off guard by the voice of Lincoln. She turned to see Lincoln holding Salem by the scruff of her neck as he looked surprised to see her here.

-**_XxX_**-

-Earlier-

Lucy had fallen asleep on the new bed, of their new room. It was about as big as the old one but with only one bed, it was good enough for them at least.

On the night stand next to them, Lincoln had made a frozen sculpture; A vase with a bouquet of flowers, each an icy-blue. Lucy loved it when Lincoln made his ice sculptures, especially of her, the cast of her visage in frozen form really brought out the cold emptiness of her existence. Lincoln always manages to cheer her up.

Lincoln wasn't surprised that Lucy chose to stay here, she didn't want to leave just yet, truthfully, he thinks with things being as hard as they are to make friends, Lucy wasn't ready to give up on Kara yet.

Now, they were cuddling.

Lincoln was watching her sleep soundly, when something caught his attention.

** *Thud***

Something hit the floor, Lincoln looked to the nightstand and saw Salem, the fuzzy, black, pain in his ass. She was doing that thing cats do and was pushing crap off of shelves.

The black cat made her way to the frozen vase full of ice flowers as Lincoln's eye widen then narrowed.

"Don't you dare." He quietly screamed at the cat.

Salem was either paying him no mind or continued to spite him, pushed his sculpture closer and closer to the edge.

"Oh, you are on _thin ice_, missy." She pushed it again, "I mean it, knock it off." One more push, "I swear to God, if you-" ***Crunch***

Just like that, the sculpture was broken over the floor, thankfully it wasn't a loud crash, Lincoln wanted Lucy to sleep, without any interruptions.

Lincoln narrowed his eyes as they glowed something fierce.

Beside Salem, a duplicate Lincoln appeared and reached over the cat, menacingly.

Salem tried to jump into the nearest shadow, only for her neck scruff to be grabbed by clone Lincoln.

"Sabrina can't save you this time, cat. You wanna be like that right now, okay, you can be an outside cat, tonight."

Clone Lincoln took Salem outside and paused when he heard someone crying, it was close too. He turned to see Kara, at first he was pretty angry to see her but with a second look, he really couldn't find it in him to be an ass to her.

And so he called out to her, "Kara." She turned and saw him.

Kara ran up to him and revealed her tear stained face to the man.

"L-Lincoln… please tell me Lucy's still here!" She shouted to him.

"Shhh, okay, seriously. Also yes and why are you here, I don't think she'd like to see you now."

Even though Kara could barely make him out, she still pleaded with him, the added tears and quivering lip were only adding to the desperation in her voice, "Please…"

Lincoln and Salem looked at her with narrowed eyes, he tried to be angry but he just couldn't, he resigned with a small sigh and led her to his new room.

Kara walked into the new residence of Lincoln and Lucy, then she saw on a lone bed, the pseudo-incestuous couple, cuddled in a more wholesome sense than anything that may have gone on in Kara's head.

Clone Lincoln let go of Salem who ran like mad into Lucy's shadow.

The real Lincoln looked over to see Kara, he wasn't pleased but let it go when his duplicate put a hand up. Lincoln looked down at Lucy then back at Kara and knew what he had to do. He jostled Lucy awake and saw her try to go back to sleep while snuggling up to Lincoln once more.

"Lucy, you need to get up, someone needs to speak with you."

"Sigh, can't it wait until sunrise, the dark atmosphere reminds me of the ever-expanding void inside of my being… wait, who wants to talk to me?"

Kara makes herself know, "Uh… me…"

Lucy fully turns over and sees an awkward Kara, trying her best to keep eye contact.

"Sigh, what are you doing here, if you're here to run us out of town, I-"

"Luce!" Both Lincolns called out, "I don't think, she's here to hurt you anymore than she has, have you?" the real Lincoln asks directly at the blonde, who shakes her head.

Lucy looks to her with a softer gaze, "Then why are you here?"

Kara takes a moment to choose her next words carefully, "I wan-no I needed to apologize to you, I was a jerk, I was small minded and judged without giving you the chance to speak, and I know I hurt you, but please… know that I am sorry, I should have never said those things to you.

If you don't want to see me again, I understand, but if you still want to talk, to explain how this happened… I'll listen." Kara said with sincerity, Lucy could feel it too.

Lucy stared at her and sighed, "I… alright… I want to tell you everything." Then Lincoln removed himself from her side and made his way to the door as the clone was reabsorbed into him, "Lincoln?"

"This isn't something you need me here for, I'll be back with food, how long do you think you'll need?"

Lucy thought on it, "Maybe a few hours." Lincoln nods and made his way out.

The two remaining women stared for a moment, until Lucy opened her mouth, "I should probably start from the very beginning?"

Kara nods, "Yeah, that's probably for the best, if there are parts you can't tell me, don't feel pressured, just… tell me what you can.

To that, Lucy nods and began her long tale.

~X~

Silence, Kara was quiet.

Lucy had gone over, practically he entire life's story.

Both had tear stains along their cheeks. For Kara, she just heard Lucy's tale, her perspective on everything she's been through, she spared no detail and even shared the origins of her bedroom troubles. For Lucy, she just reopened old wounds and being the empath, felt the overwhelming sadness and misery leaking from Kara.

The blonde had no idea what to say, after everything she's heard, tragedies upon tragedies on both Lucy's and Lincoln's part. And then there was Lincoln, good God, he's changed so much and to hear what he's gone through to become what he is, honestly, she's more terrified of him than when she first met him and probably hit 9.5 on her major danger-o-meter, seriously.

The two sat in what was now daybreak, the sun had risen, half an hour ago.

Lucy had wiped her eyes, pushing her bangs apart, finally giving Kara a good look at her face and she had to admit, Lucy is very pretty.

Lucy looked into Kara's bright-blue eyes with her own glowing neon-blues, Kara hadn't paid it any mind, right now she was more focused on what she just learned about her friend.

"And that brings us to now…" She leaves it off their.

Kara looked down, "God, I feel like a whiney little bitch, for real. I'm griping about my friends leaving me when I could've gone with them and you and Linc had to fight like mad every day just to make it through life.

And you both having to do it day in and day out for years, jeez, I was giving you a hard time for being with Lincoln, meanwhile all the sickos and nut-jobs you dealt with…" It makes her skin crawl just thinking about it, "… I'm sorry, I had no right to come down on you so hard, especially when you had to go through so much already, I've been living comfortably here, complaining about my family not respecting me it-" She cutoff.

"Enough, you've made your point Kara. I get it, you're sorry. There's no need to go in like this." She told the blonde.

"But, I've been acting like no one knew how I felt, you been in worse spots, you've gone through worse on your first day after ground-zero and you can't just seem to catch a break."

**"**Sigh, Kara, if there is anything I've learned on my long journey through this wasteland, it's not about who's had it worse or who's endured more, what's important is that we all make a connection by willing to understand one another, pain is just one of those things that helps bring people together. Shared trauma can build bridges too, they are what connected Lincoln and myself when our old bridges were torn apart."

"speaking of Lincoln… I know you two patched things up years ago but are you sure you want to be with… HIM. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's a lot better than what he was before… but still, after what he's done, you're alright with that."

Lucy tilted her head, "I couldn't be happier, it's those experiences that helped make Lincoln such an amazing person," Kara was taken back by her response. "Sometimes he agonizes over the acts he's committed and it drives him to be a better person, even though he doesn't see it, I think it makes him even better than he was when we first began our journey."

Kara was confused, thankfully Lucy wasn't finished.

"Sigh, tell me Kara, have you ever heard of Saint Irenaeus' interpretation on Theodicy?" She asked as her friend shook her head 'no', "Sigh, well, I won't bore you with a philosophical lecture on morality that branches into a multitude of models.

But the Irenaean Model postulated by Saint Irenaeus believes; Moral Perfection can only be reached when a human suffers from evil and freely chooses goodness instead." Kara thinks on it and nods in understanding, "And that is how I see my Lincoln, he was once innocent as a newborn, concerned only with our safety, down the line, he lost himself and gave in to the darker aspects of himself.

After his brush against death's scythe, he reassessed his life choices and even though he hadn't change on the spot, he decided on a different course of life. He's tried many different things to steer from the path he was on, and now that he can no longer loose himself to alcohol or recreational drugs, he has to _conscientiously_ make better choices when going forward.

He doesn't always know the best way to go through life, I'll admit but he tries to be better.

He is not an innocent child, nor a hateful juvenile, but now, I'm proud to say he has grown into a caring and accepting man who's known love and hatred, one I love with all my heart."

Lucy finishes as Kara pondered on her words.

The two just looked at each other as if to say something but then they heard the door open.

Lincoln stepped in with trays in his hands and the heavenly smell of breakfast food filled their nostrils as their stomachs erupted in growls.

The two gained a pink hue to their cheeks before Lincoln set the trays on the bed.

"Man, I am sooo glad that diner opens early, even happier the guy let me make our breakfast, no fuss." He announced.

Lincoln looked the two girls in the eyes before turning away.

Lucy spoke up, "Lincoln, I told Kara-"

"Yeah, I got it, don't worry." He assured her.

Then Kara wanted to say something, "Lincoln, I just want to say… I-"

"Nope! Sorry, but I don't need to know or hear what it is," The two tried to speak again before he put a hand up, "Not everything that wants to be said, needs to be heard, I can see you both made up, maybe?" He asked as they shared a look and nodded, "Good, and Kara *****"Yes"***** if you every make Lucy cry like that again, I'll make whatever she told you about me look like a fairytale compared to what I WILL DO. Capeesh?" Kara nodded furiously, "Fantastic, now come get some food before it gets cold, we're having pancakes, bacon, eggs and hash browns."

The two friends joined for breakfast and face a new day together.

-**_XxX_**-

It's been a while since the reveal to Kara, and known to Lincoln and Lucy, Karen is aware of the situation and has occasionally been giving subtle hints (as subtle as Karen can get) to the two, specifically to Lincoln, that she's _interested_.

It was awkward enough before she _knew_ but now…

~XxX Flashback XxX~

When Lincoln first came to the Kent Farm, the first thing he was to do was to help turnover some vacant space or y'know plowing fields. That wouldn't be too much of an issue, normally, but years of a broken-down plow and no replacement meant that it needed to be done manually.

With a wide assortment of powers, one being a minor form of geokinesis, Lincoln ripped through the land with ease, when needing to break apart some things tougher than soil, Lincoln had no problem getting in the field and working by _hand_.

By the end, Lincoln had a light coating of dirt, nothing bad. With a hand gesture, he pulled the dirt off of him and tossed it back on to the land and went to the storage barn for a towel.

He understands why Clark would have a hard time, the others are doing something else and without one of them it would get so much more time consuming, without the proper equipment, normal people could do this in a reasonable time, without a lot of help at least.

Between 3 individuals with superior strength, outdated tools and a lack of automated machinery, there is plenty to do on the farm by hand. Lincoln puts those thoughts on hold as he remembers what he's looking for and approached the barn.

When he opened the door he was surprised by the sight of Karen.

She had her back turned to him while moving a lot of bagged soil/fertilizer but that wasn't the problem, it was her attire.

Karen was dressed in cutoff jean-shorts, a plaid shirt tied into a crop top, exposing her midriff and then traveling down her long, creamy legs to cowboy boots.

Lincoln couldn't be keep his eyes off her figure, even from behind it was clear, this is a woman's body, curvaceous, toned, strong and the color that told of a healthy partner who could come back for mor-

** *BAM***

The door to the barn slammed shut, most likely from the wind. Karen turned and Lincoln wished she hadn't.

"Oh!" She shouted with a smile, "You're done already," Lincoln gave a firm nod, "Damn! That was quick, Clark's still out, chopping the morning wood."

Lincoln did a double take, "W-What! *****"Y'know, fire wood,"***** Oh. So, uh… I was told there was stuff to help me clean up."

"Oh yeah, sure, hang on." Karen said as she walked to a stall and came back with a nice clean towel. Lincoln took it with a thanks and when he looked at Karen, he could have sworn her top buttons were undone and gave a clear view of her deep cleavage that accented her large chest and when she stepped back they jiggled while she laughed.

Lincoln flushed, she was getting to him.

"Y'know, Linky, I'm really looking forward to spending time with you, since you're gonna be working here a while." She said as he was wiping himself down, Karen eyed him from top to bottom and smirked.

When Lincoln was done he saw the retreating form of Karen and with every step she swayed her hips with purpose that gnawed at his attention and when she made her way to another pile of bags, she bent down and grabbed at the pile.

_That wasn't proper form, not the way you lift something_, is what Lincoln's thoughts should have been, but no, he was too busy checking out that ass. It didn't help that it swayed even while she was station.

'_Goddammit, get a hold of yourself_,' Lincoln thought and should have turned but didn't, '_Maybe just a few more seconds wouldn't hurt_,' His thoughts reasoned, and they were making some sense.

Suddenly, Karen got serious and picked up her load, as she made her way back to Lincoln she stopped in front and asked him, "So, when we're done, how about I give you a ride? *****"WHAT"***** back to town," Then she walked past him and got to the door. *****"oh"***** "Then maybe we can test out your new bed, see how many rounds you can last with me."

She smirked as she saw Lincoln's face light up with shock.

~XxX End Flashback XxX~

Forget it.

Lincoln had been helping around the farm like he promised and there was quite a bit to do.

When your community depends on some of the farms around, they need to put in a lot.

Lincoln could see why Conner was needed, it wasn't as if there were too many things to do but it was physically demanding, though because of his enhanced stamina, Lincoln could keep up no problem but without people like him, you'd need a large team for how much needed to be done.

Even til this day, the Kent's are trying to expand their unused land to prepare for their next batch

Lincoln has been having a pleasant and relaxing time working with Jon and Clark, tending fields, moving supplies, delivering goods to other parts of Smallville. Some repairs and the removal of an overgrown and rotting tree, in fact it was this one job that got Lincoln into an interesting agreement.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

Conner had been held up in his room for the last week and he had been going stir crazy.

Outside of his window, he saw his dad, brother and Lincoln working all over, getting a lot more done in one afternoon, than he and Clark ever did, he felt down with that.

Sometime later, he saw Lincoln taking apart that old tree that was just taking up space, that was on Conner's list but… _something_ always came up.

*****Sigh***** Conner looks away from the window and sees a pile of books, he thinks for a moment and shakes his head, "Nah."

He'd rather go back to watching grown men work than read a book. But back to the window, Conner had to do a double take when he saw three Lincoln's.

The three had taken apart the tree like it was nothing, two of them ripping it apart with their bare hands, on second thought his hands looked different, '_Is he wearing metal gloves_?"

The one free Lincoln had been moving the discarded part somewhere else and looked back to the house, exactly where Conner was looking from and waved. Conner awkwardly moved away from the window and looked back to see the Lincoln's back to work.

-**_XxX_**-

Later in the kitchen, Conner had come down for some water and saw Lincoln through the window there.

Lincoln was just crouching to the ground his back to Conner but was moving something across the dirt. Curiosity got the better of Conner and so he left the house to spy on the white-haired merc.

Lincoln was finished with work and was taking a minute to himself, he spotted a nice, thin, narrow stick and he got an idea to pass the time.

A few minutes had passed and already Lincoln had sketched a frame-worthy portrait of the Kent – Danvers family with the farm in the background along with a decorated sky. Even though it was only dirt, the make-up was clear on who each person was all the while he had gotten all 6 members, from the parents, the brothers and sisters.

He made them all smiling and close, but then he stopped, he was lost in thought but his arm was still moving.

Lincoln was thinking of home, his family. Somewhere in his mind, he went back to his parents' anniversary gift to them, a family photo of the Loud siblings.

He thought on how he got one that was initially unsavory to him… at first, a clear depiction of the wild and chaotic nature of the Loud house. It was after trying to contain all that chaos and molded each sister to his liking that he understood how off putting it was to see the girls restrained and depicted as something they just aren't. He compromised and went back to the first picture, Lincoln was proud to see the girls happy as they were, even if the chaos was something he couldn't stand all the time.

Thinking back, he could hear one of Lucy's proverbs; _Compromise is the essence of diplomacy and diplomacy is the cornerstone of love_.

*****Sigh***** '_What I wouldn't give to see the real thing agai_-' Lincoln's thoughts froze as he felt movement behind him.

He snapped out his thoughts to see he recreated the anniversary picture he gave to his parents, each one was there, except for him, in the middle, where he should be, screaming in frustration, he left blank.

He quickly waves his hand and the ground partly runs over the picture as Lincoln looks at the empty space where he feels someone walking to him, and judging from the size and shape, it could only be the youngest member of the Kent family.

Just before the person walks into Lincoln's sight, he calls out, "Hey Conner!" The boy came into view and stumbles back when he heard Lincoln.

Conner groans in pain and holds his sides, due to his inhuman body, he healed much quicker than a normal person would but just because his bones have mended, doesn't mean he's ready to spring into action, it's only been a few days.

"Sorry, didn't mean to spook ya. But what're you doing out, shouldn't you be getting rest?"

Conner huffed and looked away but after a few seconds, he made eye contact and said in a low voice, "Got bored and saw you out here, what're you still doing here, didn't you finish for the day?"

"Yeah but then I wanted a moment to think and do a little something to pass the time." He said and then pointed to some drawings he made, "What do you think, neat right?" Lincoln asked with a grin.

Conner looked around and saw some doodles, they were pretty good but then he saw the portrait of his family, for dirt drawings, Lincoln made good use of shading to make a good picture of his family.

It was downright beautiful, actually.

"… Meh." Was all Conner said, he didn't want to admit Lincoln had skill or made his family look happy, but then his eyes drifted to a smudged picture that looked like it was going to be even better than what Lincoln did for Conner's family.

Lincoln spoke up, "Meh! Just meh, nothing else, c'mon, give me some feedback, what's wrong with it, you can tell me, ~did I get your bad side~?" He asked, trying and failing to get a smile out of the teen.

Conner rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, "What's the deal with that one?" He said pointing to the picture Lincoln ruined.

There was chaos, quite a few girls and they were all over the place, of varying ages and seemed to be having the time of their lives, why was it destroyed.

Lincoln's smile stiffened a little, "Oh, nothing. It came out wrong, I was gonna start over but then you showed up." The two kept silent until Lincoln coughed. "So… how 'bout them Knicks," he could feel Conner staring on in annoyance. "I'm just messing, but seriously, how're you holding up?"

Conner's face relaxed, "I'm fine."

Lincoln nodded, "Good, good," He paused, "So… how taught you how to fight, cause that was just tragic." He commented as Conner scowled.

"No one, you just pick up things here and there, and you?" He asked.

"Oh, well, back before all this," He said pointing to himself, "I practiced at this dojo back home, had a bunch of teachers and got to take up a bunch of styles." Lincoln said half bragging.

Conner's eyes narrowed, "I should be so lucky," He mutters. "But, it's not like it matters now, right, with what you got, I bet all that inner peace garbage doesn't mean anything."

At that, Lincoln scowled fiercely, "You should watch what you say, hasn't Slade already beaten you and everyone else? What makes you think self-control and discipline is a waste of time, I'll have you know, I was a scrawny twig before I met my teachers, then everything got better, more than you could understand." Lincoln retorts.

"Yeah, well, you got powers now, and you do alright, and when I leave, I'll make it just fine too."

Something in Lincoln was called to attention, there was no way someone like _Connie_ was going to survive out there.

"Listen Conner, I'm gonna say something you need to hear. You could never have survived what I've been through when I was your age.

It's the same story I've seen every now and again, the biggest fish in the pond just realized he's the smallest predator in the ocean. You are absolutely nothing special."

As he ended, Conner looked floored, enraged and even hurt, then he let it go and turned away.

"But I suppose, the reason you might feel invincible is the same thing that blinds you to what you are really capable of.

I've known people like you once and after I helped them, they turned out alright," to that Conner looked back in surprise. "Conner, you're not a small guy, with the proper training you could be an effective force of nature, but because you have this _crutch_, you never had the need to learn beyond flailing your hands and I MAY be inclined to show you a few things… IF you're willing." He said in a more indifferent tone but Conner looked back in utter shock.

'_Is he serious, is he really offering_-'

"I'm asking if you want to learn how to fight, Conner." Lincoln stated, as if reading the boy's mind.

At first Conner really didn't know how to respond so he just said, "Sure, I guess."

"But after you're all better, don't wanna break you even more than I already did!" Lincoln said as he took off and heard Conner growl in anger.

~XxX End Flashback XxX~

Lincoln heard Conner's been a little better to people around town so that's a plus.

Lincoln and Slade had met more and Lincoln's been learning more and more about Slade and what he's done.

It's odd but Lincoln's actually getting interested in knowing Slade. As it turns out, he had a wife and two sons, a pair of twins, he's iffy on the details but obviously, they're not around anymore. And whether he's aware of it or not, Slade has been slowly tugging on Lincoln's heartstrings, family, the sure-fire way to get Lincoln focused.

Slade's also been telling Lincoln recounts of his encounter with HD. Again, Slade was iffy on details but from the way he spoke, yeah, Slade was definitely there, and what he told Lincoln haunted him.

_ Whatever they were, they sure as hell weren't human!_

In spite of recent events, Lincoln's nights have been a lot better. He's catching up on sleep, actually going to bed with Lucy at reasonable hours and having fewer… _dreams_ that make him want to avoid sleep.

Speaking of _bed with Lucy_, she's been a little more insistent on bringing another person into the mix, and as frustrating as that _talk_ was, Lincoln is perplexed on her choice in Kara or her sister.

Her argument was that it wasn't a lack of faith and fidelity, instead, Lucy trusts Lincoln 100% but their inability to consummate is apparently building up in the man. As much as he denies is to her, he knows it's true, sure he'd never cheat or force himself on anyone but he is starting to feel guilty that Lucy feels like she needs to make concessions for his sake.

He should be able to endure just fine but truth be told, he really likes sex, he's good at it, so he's been told and he'd really like to try it with Lucy, since they are together, it just feels so backwards to have someone on the side even before you've been with your girl.

But recently, they did have a nice talk about the future.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

It was the crack of dawn and Lincoln was already up. He was holding onto Lucy, just enjoying the closeness of her when she suddenly spoke out.

"Sigh, Lincoln… if you were feeling frisky, you can go further, I don't mind waking up to your touch." She purred while Lincoln looked shocked.

"W-what do you mean?" He was sure he hadn't done anything… now.

"You've been grouping me for the last hour, I awoke some time ago but you've been stuck on my rear, I'd like for you to move on." She counters.

Lincoln flustered, now that he looks over her, he sees his hand in her panties, with a hand full of her ass. Has he really been doing this for the last hour now?

He quickly pulls his hand out but it's grabbed by Lucy and shoved back to where they were.

She smirks and looks right at him, he was caught off guard but then his eyes narrow to answer the challenge.

~X~

An hour later, Lucy was a sweaty, weaving mess, trying to catch her breath and Lincoln came back from the bathroom, his hands still wet.

"Alright, it's free." He calls out.

Lincoln's fully clothed and Lucy's only in her shirt, no bottoms. He spent an hour getting her off with just his hands, back, to back, to back, no breaks in between.

Lucy only huffed heavily in response. Lincoln walks over and plants a kiss on her forehead and sits on the bed.

"L-Lincoln, ***HUFF*** I've been ***Huff*** wondering…"

"Again, Luce? Jeez, is it one of those days again, cause I think okay if we stay in all day it that's what-"

"NO! ***HUFF HUFF*** I just wanted to know ***inhale*** how you felt about staying here… in Smallville."

Lincoln takes a moment to think, "I mean, yeah, it's pretty good here, I wouldn't mind staying here for a while." He answers.

"No, I mean staying here, for good."

He looks at her, "You mean, until the walls come down?"

"No, I mean, forever, even after the walls come down." She tells him.

"I-wha-… Luce, what about our family, and everyone in Royal Woods back home?" He asks, this was kind of backwards for her, just a while back she was telling him they would get out and go home, now she's asking to stay?

"I mean, we can go to them and tell them about us, and should they… reject us, we have something to come back to. *****"But Luce"***** I mean, everyone here is nice, we're by the boarder, no one's trying to kill us and a few people know about us, we don't HAVE to go back to Michigan, this could be our home, if you want it to, I know I'd be anywhere you are but this place is just so… sigh, curse these foul words for passing my lips, serene, peaceful and happy… things I want… with you." Lucy sat up while barring her soul to him, she wants to stay, she might be happier here than anywhere else.

Lincoln stays silent for a long while.

"Sigh, you needn't make up your mind yet, it would be a big change and we don't need an answer now, but maybe, you'll come around to it?"

Lincoln nods. Lucy flashed a smile and decided to climb over to him, ready to return the favor from earlier.

~XxX End Flashback XxX~

So yeah, Lincoln has a lot to work with there.

While thinking of setting up life here in Smallville, Lincoln and Lucy had attended more dinners with the Kent – Danvers Family. Lincoln and Mrs. Kent try to outdo the other, and it goes back and forth.

Speaking of Mrs. Kent, Martha discovered the picture of her family that Lincoln drew in the dirt by her home. It was only in thanks to Kara with an old roll-film camera that the picture was saved when it was, the following day it was ruined by winds and the next day, a light rain had erased the majority of it.

When talking to Lincoln, he revealed that he was something of an artist and that he was just doodling.

When Martha asked what it would look like when he got serious, he went back to his place, found some of his craft supplies and painted a picture of her with her home in the background, exactly cloud formation, in less than half an hour… that was with flat colors, you should have seen his eyes bulge when he learned they had oil based paints.

With less than an afternoon's worth of effort, Lincoln had made a real family portrait for the Kent – Danvers family, one that hangs in their living room wall.

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln has been staring at the ceiling again.

It's been a few weeks since he began working on the farm, just a few days ago, Conner was back to 100% and had been giving Lincoln a strange look. He was probably serious about learning from Lincoln.

November had arrived and with it, a new challenge, old wound reopening and maybe a pleasant change.

~XxX Flashback XxX~

"Wait, we're doing what?" Conner had demanded from Lincoln.

"I said, **I'M** going for a run, all you have to do is keep up-" Lincoln was cutoff.

"THAT'S IT! When you said we were gonna-" He was interrupted.

"I want to see where you're at, where I need to work from, cause from our fight, if you call it that, it seems we're starting from scratch." Lincoln stated as Conner grumbled and looked back at the silverette.

"Fine, whatever, just start running!"

~X~

Conner regrets everything. His lungs feel like they're about to collapse, he's drenched in sweat and currently gasping for air while sprawled out on the floor.

Meanwhile, Lincoln only seems to have broken a light sweat as he took another lap.

The two were behind the barricade, and ran through a demolished city with what seems to be an obstacle course, erected from solid stone, huge blocks of ice and littered all over the place, there was equipment that looks straight out of an army base and maybe a karate studio, all made from stone and ice.

Conner wasn't sure when Lincoln had the time but he knows, Lincoln did it all, right now, he didn't want to think, he was busy trying not to vomit again, so much running will do that. He barely made it through one lap, Lincoln was on his 10th, the guy has stamina, Conner, not so much.

Not to mention it was a LONG obstacle course, so many twists, turns and jumps to make, how could Conner make it through the first time?

~X~

Nearly a week had passed and Conner has only been doing a little better on the obstacle course, making it to three laps. In between other exercises that made Conner feel even more inferior to Lincoln than he already did, seriously, how can anyone expect Conner to do a thousand pushups in ten minutes, but there goes Lincoln, going above and beyond and he didn't even look winded.

"Aww, what's this? And here I thought you were one of the strong one's too." Lincoln mocked knowing full well someone so… inexperienced could never do near as many he could.

It's been a few days since Conner was shown the gap between the two in fitness.

Conner had been growing agitated, being made to look weak with crap he can't even do, hardly been shown how to fight and now he was sure the guy was just doing it to mess with him.

But that was going to change today.

Lincoln had promised to do something else with Conner.

'_Finally_!' He screamed in his head.

Unfortunately, it came after putting Conner through the ringer, running the obstacle course, 200 pushups in ten minutes, his limit, and watching Lincoln free-run through buildings.

Conner was tired but just conscious enough for Lincoln's official first lesson: How to breathe.

Conner stared at Lincoln, "What the FUCK!"

Lincoln held up a hand and closed his eyes and out fazed two more Lincolns. The two duplicates walked away from the original and Conner as he was sat down by Lincoln.

As the two duplicates posed and began a light spar, the real Lincoln began talking.

"Something I noticed with you, something that's been told to me again and again over the years, you need to focus on your breathing when you move," Lincoln sat next to the boy for a demonstration. "First, in through the nose, then exhale through the mouth. The body needs air; air is a necessity for moving and fighting.

Most people hold their breaths, unconsciously, mind you but still all the same, they do it. This is the wrong way to do things, before we begin you will know how to breathe _properly_ as you watch my other selves show you the do's and don'ts for fighting and only after will we start. Agreed?"

Conner, still pouting, nods and so they begin.

~X~

"Ahh!" Conner screams as he is tossed onto the ground by Lincoln.

It's been a few days since showing Conner the proper breathing techniques and basic forms, forms are easy to learn, depending on how willing you are to learn and practice. But now, the two were fighting.

A familiar state, Conner drenched in sweat as Lincoln is bone dry, Lincoln has been running Conner ragged before sparing, so he may have a little leeway.

"Alright, breaks over, get back up, kid." Lincoln said with a sharp tone.

"Just give me a minute, man." Conner gasped.

"No." With that, Lincoln grabbed onto Conner's arm and dragged him back up for another round and the boy tried pushing him off.

"What's your deal? You have me running circles just to toss me around and for what? The fuck's the point of this, we both know you're stronger, what's with the routine, you told me, you were gonna give me some pointers not beat the crap out of me, I can hardly move and you want me to keep going."

"In real life, no one is goning to give you a minute to regain your strength, in real life, you're never going to be fresh and ready to fight, why do you think we run the course before we fight?

And here's some free advice, you haven't peeked, stop complaining about other people being stronger, I wasn't even close to as strong as you were at your age and here I am, so suck it, slacker and keep going, you're done when I say you are."

Lincoln didn't have time for his shit and the two went back at it, with the same results, Conner being tossed onto the ground, hard.

"Again." Lincoln demanded.

"… no." Conner mumbled.

Lincoln just stared at the kid, "What was that, I can't hear you over the sound of you being a whiney bitch." He mocked as Conner burned with anger, "Seriously, I can't believe I wasted my time with you, maybe I should've gone to Clark about this." *****Sigh*****

Lincoln turns in the direction of Smallville and doesn't _see_ Conner stand up. He was red with rage and eyes burning with hate but then he looked down while his hands curl into fists so hard you could hear the flesh grinding like leather.

Lincoln was walking, looking down, he saw a shadow zoom by, after he felt something moving behind him and then ducked, Conner tried going for the head and missed. The boy saw Lincoln duck and disappear only to have a hard fist slam into his side, sending him flying.

Conner landed hard, while by some miracle, he hadn't felt his insides break, the familiar sensation of broken bones were not apparent but he still couldn't get up. As the teen looked up, he saw Lincoln stalk towards him.

"So, you still had energy to that, I guess not only are you a slacker but you're a liar too." He said very condescendingly, "So what's this, you get huffy and try to kill the first thing that pisses you off, what then, what comes after that, huh?"

Lincoln stood angrily over Conner who refused to look at him, after pressing a boot on his arm, _hard_, he roared, "LOOK AT ME!"

And so Conner did, Lincoln could see tears forming and he sighed, then got off of him.

"Alright, clean yourself up. We're done for today." He told the boy, who just sat there, thinking.

"… I-I… I'm s…" Conner just gives up.

Lincoln sighed, "Look, Conner, it was a mistake, I'm over it, we can ju-"

"What would you know about mistakes?" He quietly asked, he seemed really upset, but not at Lincoln "It's not easy being Clark's _little_ brother.

_HE_ never makes mistakes, has girls lined up and everyone loves him, I make one and my dad almost dies," he was quiet for a moment, "It was my fault, a girl came around the farm, she was hungry and I should've told Slade and the others then but… I don't know, she needed help and I just did what I thought Clark would have.

Turns out she was a raider scout, the next day they stormed the farm, my dad gets one put in his leg, Kara got him to a doctor in time, they said if it was a little higher, they'd have to amputate, and if she didn't get there fast enough, he'd have bleed out.

No one says it was my fault but I know that's what they all think. I go to Slade and got my ass handed to me. In the ring, it's the only place where I feel alive and when I can get any stronger, when I can prove myself, prove to everyone I'm not a screw up."

Lincoln thought on his words carefully, "Conner, everyone and I mean EVERYONE screws up. Nobody's perfect and no one's telling you be perfect but you gotta know your family loves you, they want you to be happy and safe and yeah, they're tired of the crap you put them through but they still care, that's why they get on your case, if they didn't care, well, you wouldn't hear from them now would you?"

Conner looks down in thought, soon enough, he gets up and walks off, "See ya…" he waved and then he was out.

Lincoln nodded and then looked to a building, earlier he though he saw a shadow and began running up a building.

-**_XxX_**-

A woman looks out in the distance, she thought she saw Lincoln look her way and took cover.

For the past 3 days, she's been spying on Conner. After he got better, he's been going out more, he's been avoiding everyone, so where had he been going. One day, she just saw him go over the gate and meet up with Lincoln, she thought they were going to fight it out but was instead intrigued to see them exercising and Lincoln showing Conner a few moves, then ending the encounter with a spar.

Her eyes were trained solely on Lincoln, most of the time he had been shirtless, demonstrated just how much further along, in shape, he is than most guys.

After seeing Conner throwing a tantrum that translated to trying to bash Lincoln's skull in, she acted and tried to go help but retreated when he not only dodged but countered the reckless youth.

Next, she expected Lincoln to straight up kill the teen but instead they sat and talked it out, she wishes she heard what they talked about.

Shortly after Conner took his leave, she saw Lincoln look her way and after 5 minutes, she's confident that he was gone, but just to be sure, she'd look over the edg-

"Hi Kara!" Lincoln surprised his onlooker.

"AHHH!" She shrieked as she fell back. Lincoln had been standing on the side of the building… at least 50 feet in the air and nothing was holding him up, he was just sticking to the side of the structure.

Lincoln walked up and sat on the edge of the roof, waiting for the younger Danvers girl to start.

"I-wha-you, how did you do that?"

"You mean walking?" Lincoln answered, playing dumb to her.

"No! The whole walking up the side of a building, what gives man?"

"Oh THAT, *****"Uh Yeah, that"***** it's nothing really, *****"I beg to differ"***** I mean if you really wanna know. Using the more subtle applications of my electrokinesis, I can manipulate my body's electron attraction to stick to any solid surface." He explained.

"Uhhh…. In English, please." She requested as Lincoln pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I use electricity from my body to stick to things with a static cling, *****"OHH"***** honestly, how well did you do in physics? Anyway, what are you doing here?"

Kara was panicking inside, "I was uh, y'know just in the neighborhood, what're YOU doing here?" She asked trying to flip the script, his eyes narrowed and he didn't budge, "Not buying that?" He shook his head 'no', *****Sigh***** "I saw Conner sneak here a few days ago and now I'm just watching you two cause I was bored out of my skull." She admitted.

Lincoln nods and turns but she calls out to him.

"Hey!" He turns back to her, "When did you find out you could do that walking on walls thing?"

He answered, "I always experiment with my powers, and interest in comic book science and inventive applications of my powers led to new ways to use what I got, and trust me they come in real handy, especially when it lets me make things like this."

With little more than a thought, Lincoln's hand shined then a mass of white light condensed and shaped itself into a featureless long sword.

Kara marveled at his creation.

"O-OH MY GOD! Can you actually make a lightsaber?" She yelled out to him.

Lincoln shrugged, "It's actually, condensed photons that I reshaped with the hel- oh forget it, it might just go over your head, I can make solid constructs out of light and give it density, shape it into almost whatever, so yeah, I guess technically, I can make lightsabers." He explained. "I can even make it do this." Lincoln said as his 'lightsaber' shifted colors, from white to green, to blue, to purple and then stopped on red.

Kara gasped, 'Electric powers, wears a lot of black and now that I see him with a red lightsaber…' she thought to herself, "Are you a sith lord?" She asked, half-jokingly.

Lincoln laughed, "Oh yes, and as you may know, _the dark side of the force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural_. Just look at what I've achieved." He ended with a small smirk.

Kara looked back to his sword and then to him and back again in rapid succession.

"Maybe you can help me with my problem." She half mumbled, mostly paying attention to something she's only had dreams about.

Lincoln rolled his eyes and dispelled his 'lightsaber' gaining her full attention. He was given the rundown, Kara's not sure what her powers are at this point, all she knows is that she can fly.

Given what he's heard, Lincoln has several theories that could lead to her flight, so he makes her a deal.

"Why don't you sit in with Conner, we can figure this out together and maybe find out something new about you."

Kara beamed with excitement, finally, she'll be able to get help and who better than a mysterious out of towner who for some reason has a plethora of abilities and might disappear eventually. It's like being in a game and this is her tutorial.

~X~

Conner showed up the next day to the sight of Lincoln as per usual but he was accompanied by the still beautiful Lucy and-

"Kara! What is she doing here?" He barked out.

Lincoln turned to him with a grin, "Well, since you've doing such a crap job of coming here DISCRETELY, Kara's been watching us for the last few days and has asked for my help, being the amazing teacher I am, I figured what's one more student?" Conner was ready to argue, "Oh, relax man, this won't interfering with what we're doing, I'm hardly gonna do anything with her today."

"WHAT!" Conner and Kara shouted.

"Nope! She is, Lucy, if you would." He beckons her.

Lucy stepped forward as she faced the young blonde, "Follow." Her one-worded command held no strong feelings but you could feel the conviction as she then levitated off the ground and flew away with Kara in tow.

Left alone, the boys got to work.

-**Lucy & Kara**-

The two were a few feet off the ground away from Lincoln and Conner.

Lucy had been given the story from Lincoln, Kara believes her ability to fly stems from something else but has no idea, in all honesty, it could be a lot of things, Lincoln does have theories but before he can make a plan, they need to see how it works and he asked Lucy to do a few things for Kara.

"Before we begin, would you please tell me how you fly?" Lucy asked with her usual flat tone.

The blonde was confused, "W-what?"

"I mean, when you fly, how do you feel, anything you can describe, be it physical or even emotional, it may be instinctual now but I'd like to know the mindset and motions you performed for your gift, especially when they first emerged." Lucy elaborated.

"Oh, uh… well let's see, the first time my powers came out, I was reaching for something, I forget what, but the next thing I know, I'm a whole foot off the ground.

It would be weeks before I could make it happen on purpose, there were a LOT of accidents before that, anyway, years ago, I had to imagine myself being lifted off the ground, then I get this feeling all around me, it feels like an extra layer of clothes all over but it's not touching me.

Then I just think where I want to be and then I felt something push me where I wanted to go. After a few years, it's just natural, I don't even have to think about it now."

Lucy opened her mouth but closed it then nodded, she motions for them to land by some ruble, she has a theory much like Lincoln's.

Kara's powers may be mental, if she had something, a force push her off the ground then that would eliminate flight via matter manipulation like she and Lincoln have witness with some who could command fire, wind or even electricity and use it like jet-boosters, especially since they've never seen Kara use anything like that, just lift off the ground and fly away.

Obviously, since she doesn't have wings or the like coming off her body and according to her, it doesn't feel like something is coming from her body, her powers can't be biological in origin, so that leaves mental.

Another thing that convinced Lucy was, how Kara described her flight, it was exactly how Lucy would feel and practice her levitation/flight via telekinesis.

Kara's an esper and her flight powers could be a form of telekinesis, although Kara has tries moving things with her mind, she doesn't typically make things float like her, the only things were her bed and sheets.

Now Lucy wants to run an experiment, just to test something.

"Alright, now I want you to use what you told me and take flight from here." Lucy requested.

Unknown to Kara, Lucy used her TK to keep a grip on her friend, not to hold her down but to feel how she moves, nothing invasive or to sabotage her.

Kara only shrugged and closed her eyes, focused on her old method, those old feelings starting to rise. Lucy eyed Kara's feet, there were loose pebbles and debris everywhere.

Lucy could feel some kind of force expand around Kara.

The moment Kara closed her eyes to focus the pebbles twitched and slowly shifted, as Kara began to rise from the ground, so did the debris but for a moment, right after Kara got higher and higher, the debris lagged until they just fell to the ground and stayed motionless.

Lucy saw it from start to finish, she didn't expect find the origins of Kara's flight so quickly and now Lucy needs to report it back to Lincoln.

"Hey!" Kara called out to Lucy who looked up, "What's next?" She asked.

"Nothing, you can come down, we're done for now." Lucy said earning a face contorted in confusion from Kara.

"What? You gotta be kidding me?"

"Nope." Lucy said, making her way to Lincoln as Kara followed closely.

The two saw Lincoln flip Conner over his shoulder, Conner was sweating up a storm as Lincoln looked a little bored but focused. He stops to Look at the two girls and raises a brow.

"That was quick, any trouble?" He asked while deflecting a blow from Conner.

Lucy shook her head, "No, it was as you said, her powers are mental based, perhaps even telekinetic in origin." That statement made both Kara and Conner turn to her.

Kara looks to Lincoln who hadn't paid her nor Conner any mind, "Wait, you mean you knew that already?" He shrugs, "Well, whatever, what's next, I'm so excited, do you think I'll be able to do things like Luce or make other things float oooh or maybe I-" Kara's off in her own little world as Conner scoffs.

"So glad one of us is having fun." He says folding his arms.

Kara takes a break to respond to him, "Oh don't be like that, just because I've been here ten minutes and already made progress doesn't mean you get to be downer about it." She says with a grin.

"Yeah progress, figuring out you use your mind to fly after 4 years, if you wanna call THAT progress, then good for you." He mocks Kara as her grin finally disappears.

The blonde's face scrunches and she gets in his face, "Well, I don't see how getting your ass handed to you every day can be progressive but hey, then good for you!" She says heatedly as Conner gets angry and unknown to the two of them, Lincoln could be seen getting annoyed yet lost in thought.

"YOU KNOW WHA-" Conner is cutoff.

"OH MY GOD, NICK, KIM, KNOCK IT OFF!" Lincoln roars out.

That got the two to stop but then everyone looks to Lincoln as he realizes what came out of his mouth.

Lincoln looked back and forth between Kara and Conner then spoke, "Let's cut this short for today, I gotta go… somewhere." And with that, he took off.

Kara and Conner shared a look before turning to Lucy who looked worried or as worried as you could look while maintaining a stone faced expression.

Lucy turned to the two, "It's been a while since I heard him say anything about them."

Kara looked nervous but asked anyway, "What was that about, Luce?"

"I… think the two of you reminded him of some of our former… acquaintances but still, I've never heard him say their names since…" She leaves off in a lull and soon Kara picks up.

"Does this have to do with when Lincoln was… different?" She asked as Conner perked in her direction.

Lucy nodded, "I suppose there is no harm in telling you about them." Lucy began.

-**Lincoln**-

Lincoln was resting back in his room, he closed his eyes-

An image of him biting into the neck of a scared boy pops into his head.

*****Sigh***** "Haven't thought about them in years, why'd that come out, Lincoln, you idiot, just let it go." He told himself, 'It was HIS fault, you didn't do anything wrong!' The angrier part of himself shouted, 'But you could have done thing different too.' The calmer part of his brain reasoned.

Lincoln frowns and brought his hands together, when his fingers parted there was a glittering, thin wire or sting coming from the tips, they were sharp and strong, able to cut through flesh and bone.

Lincoln has a wide assortment of powers but he'll tell you only about 1/4 are really his own, are all _natural_, the rest are stolen from someone else and most came while in his edge-lord phase, he really made a mess of himself back then.

Lincoln curls up, "Just sleep on it." He told himself, even though he was wide awake, sleep came to him… eventually.

~XxX Dream XxX~

The door to a rundown shack was thrown open, in came a 16 year old Lincoln, complete with eyes filled with anger, a feminine face, long white hair and dressed in dark clothing, all while coated in blood. Next came a 13 year old Lucy, she wore a sweater and jeans, longish hair and wore a scowl on her face, she was angry.

"I don't see why you had to kill him, he already gave up!" She yelled at him, in those days, that was a rare thing.

Lincoln stayed quiet, he didn't even dignify her with a response.

"I don't see what the big deal is, that guy was trying to force us into some crazy sex cult and had us at gun point, I say it was fair game." Came the voice of a boy, no older than Lincoln. He was short, light skinned, had brown hair and dressed in a green shirt and jeans.

"Tommy, I don't think it was that simple, I mean we had it under control, and he wasn't much of a threat." A softer voice replied, it was a girl, a little older than Lucy but not by much, she wore a pink dress and shorts, she had long blonde hair and was bandaged up.

"Kim's right, what Linc did was just- it was… that was dark, and we just left them like it wasn't our problem." Sounded the voice of a younger boy, about Lucy's age, he was tall for his age and had tanned skin, short black hair and wore a blue shirt and jeans.

"Look, Nick, I understand if you didn't want to get your hands dirty but those people were dangerous and with that guy, who knows who'd they run into next, we have powers, we could get out of it, what about the next group of people who found them?" Tommy leveled the question at Nick, who turned away.

"But still…" He didn't finish.

One doesn't survive the dead-zone alone, Lincoln and Lucy ran with a group. Each had powers, Tommy was a speedster, Kim could bend light around her and appear invisible and lastly, Nick could sprout razor thin wires from his body.

~X~

Night came to pass, but while Lincoln and Lucy were in bed, their three friends were up at Nick's favor.

In a separate part of the shack, Nick was speaking to Tommy and Kim about something personal, "Look, I can't stay here, Linc's getting worse every day, killing more people, at first they were accidents, then it was in self-defense, now… I don't know, you've seen the look in his eyes, he's nuts." He conveyed onto them quietly.

Tommy was pissed, "You're talking about running out on them. Did you forget who took us off the street, who's been taking care of us, who taught us to use our powers? I'm starting to think you're nuts, Nick."

Then Kim added on, "Yeah, I mean sure Lincoln's been on edge but do you really hate him that much? Whenever we had a problem, we talked to him and he eased up, why can't you?" As much as Kim didn't approve of Lincoln latest kill, she would never turn on him after what he's done for them all.

Nick gained a pained expression that turned to annoyance and anger, "I get why Tommy defends him but you, I know you're trying to get in his pants but can't you see, he's deranged, rabid and we're next if we're not careful, Lucy won't leave his side but whatever, she's a lost cause, we owe him a lot, I'll admit but I'm not gonna be next on his chopping block for looking at him funny. Another thing, you've seen him bite into guys' necks like some kind of vampire?"

Tommy shrugs, "So?"

"So? Dude, you know he didn't have fire powers before right?" He asked as both Tommy and Kim nodded, "Then one day he woke up and suddenly, he was hurlin' fire balls like a mage," Tommy rolled his eyes, "So, I'm thinking, he can get more powers by eating people, what if we're next cause he like what we can do, we're not safe, tell me you understand that?" Nick pleaded with the two.

Tommy was as loyal as could be, he was orphaned, as one often was in this cruel world, when he was found by Lincoln, he taught him to hone his gifts and do more than run away and though it never came up, he's been looking at Kim a little more differently, with more fondness.

Kim was a dainty thing, never wanting to be in the spotlight, now so more than ever but ever since she'd been with Lincoln, Lucy and Tommy, she's been more adventurous and prone to taking action.

Nick, the newest addiction to the group had always been fearful, somewhat flaky but he'd stick with his friends, Tommy and Kim have been more open and accepting than Lincoln and Lucy was a recluse by nature, lately, he's been thinking about cutting out Lincoln and Lucy and just sticking with his friends. He'll be the first to admit he's afraid of Lincoln and don't even get him started on Lucy but now he's not sure what they'd do to him if they knew what he was planning.

Nick and Kim are usually at odds with each other over the pettiest things but even she will admit Lincoln's been off, even when they first met Lincoln and Lucy, the effeminate white-haired mutant had taken pity on them but saw fit to leave them, the dark-haired girl had pleaded with him to take them along and he was reluctant to do so.

With the way the world was or just everything trapped in the dead-zone, you didn't live long if you weren't in a group, you needed people to watch your back and if you didn't take care of each other, you were as good as dead.

Tommy and Kim share a look then the speedster spoke, "Look, I get it, you don't feel safe and you probably feel better on your own but dude, maybe just talk to the man, I know he's not dad of the year or anything but I know him, he'll listen. Worst case scenario; he'll let you leave, he's not gonna kill you, he cares about us." Tommy reasoned but Nick's face went sour.

"No, he only cares about Lucy, we're here TOGETHER because we're useful and if don't leave now, he'll kill us for thinking about it-" Nick's interrupted by Kim.

"No, that's you being a coward, like always, Lincoln is a lot of things but he's not a monster, but if you don't want to be here then go, just don't drag us down with you." She said that as she turned and walked away, Nick tried to reach out for her but after Tommy turned his back, he gave up.

Unbeknownst to any of them that night, Lincoln was listening to them, keeping far enough to stay out of sight but with his heightened sense of hearing, the distance wasn't even a hindrance.

Lincoln sighed, '_Is that how he sees me, a monster_?' He thought to himself and resolved that he should talk to Nick, the kid's been with them maybe 4 months and Tommy, a little more than 8. Bless Tommy for having faith in Lincoln but if Nick is going to start some insurgence then Lincoln had to do something.

~X~

The next night, Lincoln was determined to speak with Nick but first he had to check on Luc-

In the part of the shack that he and Lucy live in, there was Nick, a large packed duffle bag over his shoulder, Lincoln's bag, and a pistol in his hand, one of Lincoln's guns.

Nick had been taking their stuff and was armed, when said boy had been caught by the man he feared, he froze, like a deer to the headlights of a speeding car.

Lincoln wasn't an empath but by the look in the boy's eyes, he could tell what was going on, he was caught, he was planning to take their stuff and leave them with nothing.

Lincoln's eyes narrowed and glowed ominously then Nick's widen with panic as they glanced all over the room and spotted a sleeping Lucy then in desperation, he pointed the gun at the empath's head.

Nick saw Lincoln take one step forward and shouted "Stop! I-I d-don't want to but I will k-kill her i-if you d-don't turn around and leave." He repeatedly stuttered his threat to Lincoln.

BIG MISTAKE, knowing Lincoln at this time, threatening Lucy was an automatic death sentence.

Lincoln waited for just the right moment, for Nick to blink then bam. Lincoln flashed to Nick's side and gripped his wrist in a vice while pointing it skyward before the gun went off.

** *BANG***

The loud echo of the gunshot rang through the shack, Nick dropped the gun and was struggling to break Lincoln's grip to no luck. He panicked and looked Lincoln in the eyes, his unsettling, dull yet fierce eyes that showed him the end.

Lincoln bared his teeth as his canine's seemed to grow sharper and somehow bigger.

Lincoln opened his maw and just as someone shouted, "LINCOLN NO!"

** *CHOMP***

The murderous white-haired mutant tore into the frightened boy's neck and tore out his throat. Blood sprayed over the enraged Lincoln's face, as the color faded from Nick's face, Lincoln heard shuffling behind him and turned to the shocked faces of Lucy, Tommy and a green faced Kim.

Lincoln looked back at Nick's lifeless corpse, and dropped him in shock, looking back at the group, he took a step forward as Tommy and Kim stepped back.

"Lincoln, why?" Was all Lucy could ask.

"Luce, you don't understand, he tried to leave and… I don't- I-I did this for you- he was a threat!" As he answered sporadically, Tommy and Kim flinched back and looked at one another.

~XxX End of Dream XxX~

Lincoln was lying awake on his bed, it was night already, '_Damn, I really slept through the day_?' He asked in his mind. He thought back to his old crew, he wishes he had the chance to do it all over, he really does, Nick didn't deserve to die but even back then, Lucy was his priority, anything that threatened her needed to be taken down and a lot of people paid the price for his ruthless, borderline psychotic tendencies.

It wasn't long after that, that Tommy and Kim ran away, the last look they gave Lincoln told him everything he needed to know, he could no longer be trusted, they weren't going to be next.

This was right before the time when a certain nameless boy would meet Lucy and start filling her head with his pretty words.

Eventually after his return from grave, Lincoln gave the full story to Lucy and of course this would only pile on the guilt she's amassed from the ordeal.

Lincoln shifted a little and things felt off. The sheets were over him and something was wrapped around his waist and now that he was paying attention, there were two warm, soft and squishy lumps pressing against his back and something hard on each of those lumps poked him. Without needing to think any further, Lincoln closed his eyes and felt Lucy, her distinctive body shape and another observation revealed she was in the buff, her warm body wrapped around him.

He thought on it and figured he could use a little more sleep, if only to enjoy this feeling a little longer.

-**_XxX_**-

The next morning, Lincoln and Lucy talked, she didn't ask what he was thinking, for now she'd give him space, after everything he's been through, being reminded of his past mistakes was something Lucy wanted to avoid for a while.

Armed with comic book knowledge, Lincoln understood that Kara may have a telepathic field around her that she uses to fly via levitation like Lucy but to a more fluid extent. This power, short range telekinesis or tactile-telekinesis could probably be trained and Lucy would have to help expand her field and range.

Lincoln would work on Conner, the extent of his powers was limited to the body so after getting him on a workout regimen and teaching him to fight properly, Conner would see just how strong he could be, currently, he was only scratching the surface of his abilities, hopefully that would change.

**_-XxX-_**

"Ah!" Conner shouted as he was punched in the face by Lincoln and sent to the ground again, this time getting up and charging at him… again.

"What did I tell you, when going up against a bigger and stronger opponent, you can't run at him head on, keep him off-side with guerrilla tactics, hit and run.

Me personally, I like to go for the pressure points and joint locks, easy for me to get close and break something important." He told the young Kent boy who then began changing tactics.

Conner was circling Lincoln who was just stationary, not even turning, was he underestimating Conner, no, not by a long shot, but he doesn't know that and so he comes at Lincoln from the side, hoping to rush him, only to be rewarded with an over the shoulder flip.

Conner quickly got up only for sand to be tossed into his face, he turns and starts rubbing the dirt from his eyes only to have the back of Lincoln's fist meet his nose and send him on his back, groaning in pain and humiliation.

"That's not fair!" He screamed while still getting the sand from his face.

Lincoln chuckled, "You need to change how you look at things, the only unfair fight is the fight you lose, rules of conduct are for sparing and tournament matches, everywhere else, especially on the battlefield, it's expected for you to play dirty, in the end, it's all about who wants it more."

Conner finally cleaned his face and fixed Lincoln with a glare but nodded, Lincoln gestured for Conner to get back up and so he did then the two got back to it.

Conner has been more enthusiastic with Lincoln and more reasonable in following directions. Lincoln has agreed to get Conner into weight training; lifting and building muscle. Conner's been getting better and better, maybe he'll start seeing the difference in his ability between now and before they met.

Lincoln has been teaching Conner about grappling techniques in fighting and how to lock someone in a hold, the teen's making progress under Lincoln's tutelage.

-**Lucy & Kara**-

Lucy was holding onto Salem as she instructed Kara on her next objective; using her telekinetic field and lifting the surrounding ruble without flying herself.

Kara was sweating bullets, concentrating on her goal, it was hard, re-using her old mindset for flight but to make other things fly around, she could feel things around her rumble and that boosted her mood but no real progress has been made.

"Like I told you, Kara; breathe in, visualize your goal, breathe out and exert your will." Lucy instructed.

Kara snorted, "Don't you think I'm trying? It's hard, like using a muscle you never knew you had." She spat out while trying to keep focus.

"Yes but this shouldn't be too difficult, after all, you lift yourself all the time, some debris couldn't possibly weight anything close to… what, 120 pounds." She said that with a smirk as Kara looked aghast and gasped.

"I will have you know I am 96 pounds and I get that lifting rocks should be easy but I've never done this before," She said with anger as she walked to Lucy. "I mean it's not like you could do this on your fist day, right?"

Lucy looked down with a small smile then went flat-face, she saw where Kara was walking and the bits of rock she passed started moving out of place and some even began to rise. She held a hand out, stopping the younger Danvers girl.

"Firstly, yes, the moment I discovered my ability to interact with objects from a distance, Lincoln had me practice in much more… strenuous circumstances. He threw rocks at me, I was supposed to catch, deflect or pulverize them, in less than 10 minutes I had achieved that goal, before I felt my head splitting from the migraines, but then again we all go at our own pace, I mean just look at you." She said while pointing behind the blonde.

Kara turned and saw pebbles floating around her, it wasn't impressive compared to what she had seen before but this was something new for her so it was indeed a victory, she could only let out a screech.

"AHHHHHH! Yes, yes, yesyesyesyesyes!" Kara shout while floating in the air sprawling her limbs in elation.

Lucy could only cringe at her girly screams, with a pulse she got Kara to calm down, "Alright, now that that's over, you were right about one thing. Your powers are like a muscle, the more you use and experiment, the greater and more versatile they become.

Lincoln believes every power can be trained and evolved, he says he's a walking example in a way." Lucy told Kara who tilted her head.

"That's something else I wanted to ask. What can Lincoln do exactly, because it's starting to look like he can do anything, which is cool but kinda scary too?"

Lucy paused a moment, "I will not tell you the things he can do specifically, bad things tend to happen when the wrong people know about his weird talent. I can also tell you, you and your family haven't even seen a tenth of what he's capable of," Kara's eyes widen with that revelation. "For the sake of keeping a low profile, he likes to tone it down."

"W-what can he do?" She asked but was debating if she wanted to hear the answer.

"Through his own means, Lincoln is able to… gain new powers from others, this is to say he cannot do everything they can or even mimic the level of power and control they demonstrate… right away but that is why he train and practices. Example, he's attained three variations of electrokinesis, he says almost any power can be created by all three types of mutants, biologically, mentally or through a form of manipulation.

Lincoln has all three but he can do more than simply shoot people with lightning, with training and imagination, Lincoln has found multiple applications for them, from messing with electronics, electro-magnetism and for the more subtle use of-" she's interrupted.

"He can stick to walls like some kind of ninja! I saw it the other day." Kara blurted out.

Lucy nodded, "Yes, oh and I do believe you'll appreciate this one; he can charge batteries and electronics."

Kara's eyes looked like they would burst out of her head before she took a breath and-

-**Lincoln & Conner**-

Lincoln felt a chill crawling up his spine and shivered as he held another one of himself in a sleeper hold, for Conner to learn when suddenly, Lincoln felt a shiver down his spine.

'_I don't know why but I feel like something annoying is about to come along_.' He looked to Conner who looked entranced by his teachers headlock, '_Nah, he's fine right no_-'

"**LINCOLN**!" A roar broke him out of his trace as he released his other and looked above to see Kara flying right at him and Lucy not too far behind.

"Kara." He called out, blandly.

When Kara landed, she stomped up to Lincoln with fury in her eyes, "You've been holding out on me!" She growled.

Lincoln raised a brow and looked to Lucy who landed just moments later and watched her mouth 'I'm sorry'. He shrugged and turned to Kara.

"And how pray tell was I _holding out_ on you?" He asked, incredulously.

"You're gonna find out, you're coming with me." She commanded as she marched away from the rest.

Lincoln looked at his clone and they both shrugged only for the original to take off, "And where are we going, Kara?" He asked as he walked with her.

"Uh to this new place called MY ROOM!" She announced as Lincoln laughed.

"Well, well, well. Aren't we eager, I'll be honest I didn't think you'd be this forward, I mean, Conner's right there, a little warning would be nice." He joked only for her to turn red.

"S-shut up, you are gonna give my batteries a charge-"

"That's what she said!" Clone Lincoln shouted, and Kara turned back with anger on her features.

-**_XxX_**-

And so Lincoln and Lucy spent the next week relatively peaceful and boring, boring on their end, they were sure Kara and Conner appreciated the training.

Though minor, Kara has been very excited using her powers in new ways, to what she's capable of, only she and Lucy really know, Lincoln's been spending time with Conner and he's got to say, Conner's not so bad, things can get so boring being stuck in one town for years on end.

It was the beginning of November and Lincoln was kind of done with this place, not that he wouldn't enjoy staying for some time but after all the traveling he's had to do, staying put never felt safe for him and Lucy, it's probably something he'll have to get used to when he and Lucy are free.

A few days after Kara joined him and Conner, Lincoln's been told his help on the farm was no longer needed but much appreciated and honestly, he was glad for it, he didn't mind the hard work but it was mostly Karen.

Even when not working, Lincoln was invited by Kara to play her portable consoles, him being a literal battery for her. Unfortunately, sometimes he would have to cut his visits short when her sister came by to bug them, especially Lincoln.

If not the immodest clothing, sexual innuendos and gestures, it was the pass she made at Lincoln on his last day working at the farm.

It was in the barn, he was putting the last of the tools away when she came out of nowhere and started to suck face with him, with everything happening, he just sort of went with it and showed her just how aggressive he could be until he snapped out of it and realized he had her half naked and _inviting_ him to finish. He's not sure how he made himself leave when every part of him begged him to stay, arguing to himself that even Lucy would approve but he left her hanging, Karen was mad and the next time she saw Lincoln at the bar she told him she'd step up her game.

Lincoln had taken on a few more jobs with Slade and talked more, their talks were nice and Lincoln felt a sort of kinship and an odd sense of familiarity with him.

But that brings us to now.

~XxX End Flashback XxX~

Lincoln was lying on his bed in nothing but pants on, looking at the ceiling, just thinking. He can't shake the feeling that something big is coming and what's worrying is that something in him wants it to come sooner.

He recently got a neat trim, his hair had been getting a little too long and unkempt was more of an on the road style not a nice, civilized town kind, he had thoughts of growing it out more but no, not now.

Lucy had emerged from the bathroom in another dress made for her. It looked regal, very beautiful, form fitting and if it wasn't Lucy, you wouldn't see this as casual wear but it was very much so for the duchess of darkness, the mistress of the night that is Lucy.

As per her usual style, it was black, but with dark purple accents, it was smooth and silky.

It started at her neck and went all the way down to her feet.

On the arms, they were detached at her shoulder, exposing her pale, milky-white skin and fit snugly all the way at the wrist.

On her chest there was an oval-window that showed off the cleavage to her vast, bountiful chest.

Lastly, on her back was a sewn-on formal cape that reached her knees and the inside was an ominous but soft purple.

Her hair flows freely while an eye peeks out with all of its eerie supernatural gleam.

Lucy truly looks like she should be walking the halls of a dark castle with a glass of red (hopefully) wine in hand and gazes devilishly playful yet longingly at the white knight who had come for her, to do battle or…

Back to Lincoln, he was being drawn to her and how could he not. That figure, curvy top and bottom, slim waist, that dress was working for her in every way, the contrast to her skin and the eye-catch being her literal eye, so out of place but not ugly, it didn't clash it was the only thing different from her color-scheme.

Lincoln needed a touch, a taste.

Lucy smirked, she felt what he wanted and she was willing enough to let him have at it… to an extent.

Lincoln grew a smile and flashed over to her side. He approached from behind and held her close then he inhaled deeply while her body was pressed on his, Lincoln could smell a new scent all over Lucy.

Recently, Lincoln learned how to make organic soap from scratch and make rose-water. It can go in a lot of things and be used for all sorts of things related to health and body-care products.

Lucy's hair smelled like flowers and peppermint but the smell of her exposed skin drew in Lincoln, '_Is that cinnamon, vanilla and… what is that,_ wine?' He hadn't noticed his hands roaming over her body but he did notice that she wasn't wearing anything underneath, '_No underwear? Were you hoping for a little something, Luce_?'

One hand stopped on her flat stomach, gently grazing it while his other hand cupped a boob, making Lucy tilt her head back and her breathing hitched. Lincoln, while caressing his lover's body was leaning closer and closer to her neck, planting a kiss then sucked on it, he could hear and feel her pulse spike and lastly, for some reason he nipped at her neck.

"AHHH!" Lucy moaned loudly then slapped a hand over her mouth.

Lincoln had paused to get a look at her face but could only see her face getting redder by the second, "Was that embarrassment or a turn on? Y'know if you're still into the whole vampire role play, ~I'd be delighted to take a _drink_ from you, my lovely black rose~" He deepened his voice and felt Lucy shiver as her skin turned bright pink, "_I'll take that as a yes, my dear_." He whispered to her ear and went back to nibbling on her neck.

The hand on Lucy's stomach went south and rubbed her inner thighs while they shifted. Lucy brought her hands over her head then wrapped around the back of Lincoln's and forced his lips to press harder on her skin, wanting more.

Lincoln lifted his head to whisper, "_So you like biting, huh? That's good to know_."

Lucy muttered something, "J-just on my neck." Lincoln nodded.

"Tell me, are you going somewhere or did you get dressed like this for me, cause it gotta say, it's working for me." Lucy turned and audibly sighed but Lincoln saw the corner of her mouth curve up and her cheeks deepen in color.

"I thought it would make you feel better," Lincoln tilted his head like he was asking a question. "It's just, you've been down and I can't help but want to make you happy, I thought this would alleviate your mood and judging by what's poking my back, I think I've succeeded."

Lincoln smirked.

The two would spend the next hour exchanging kisses and holding onto one another.

-**_XxX_**-  
-**?**-

Roaming over the skies was a military grade helicopter, dark-grey, almost black in color and traveling within the walls.

Inside of a helicopter were three people, one pilot and two people sitting on one side of the passenger's side were a man and a woman.

"I swear, this Slade guy better be there!" The woman groaned before the man spoke up.

"Don't worry, before the radio crapped out, it gave us the place, we're right over Smallville now, if he's… y'know then we go back or move on, if he's got our intel then good… I guess if not then we can go back home." He said while rubbing the woman's hand.

"I guess you're right, I just- I don't wanna be **here**." She said darkly with clear anger.

"Hey, hey," He tried calming her down, "You know Lisa could only turn to us and she decked us out with her best gear, those mercs at Umbrella don't even have this stuff-"

"DO NOT talk to me about them!"

"S-sorry babe." The man said softly as the two sit in silence but then-

** *BURST***

Something happened with the blades and engine while the alarms went off, there were flashes, beeps and turbulence. Bless the pilot for being able to steer the chopper and make a controlled landing (crash) in an empty part of the town below.

"Hold on you two!" The pilot yelled out to his passengers.

-**Lincoln & Lucy**-

Currently, they're lying on the bed just talking when suddenly-

***Papapapapapapa***

There was this annoyingly familiar sound, the two got up to take a look outside.

People were out and about, seeing a black helicopter. It was smoking and wobbling as it got closer to the ground.

'_Is it falling out of the sky, did they get too close to the cloud_?' were Lincoln's thoughts.

The two saw the helicopter land in an open space in the middle of town, Lincoln and Lucy shrugged to each other and went back inside.

It was a safe-ish landing and had nothing to do with them, the less people who knew what they were the better.

Back inside, Lucy asked Lincoln, "So back to your dream last night…"

"Right, so remember when we were back home, you were like, 10 and I was 13?" Lucy nodded, "you remember when Lori and Bobby visited for the holidays and I was sick, like, really sick?"

Lucy nodded again, "How could I forget, we went to the mall and you had to stay behind. Lori volunteered to stay behind and when we came back, she tore through the wrappings to our presents like how she always does, sigh, I know not how nor why she feels the need to do that or what joy it brings her." She ended as Lincoln picked back up.

"Yeah, anyway-

-**_XxX_**-

Lincoln and Lucy spent the day catching up with the townsfolk.

As per usual, Lucy had her hair cover her eyes and Lincoln walked down the street with shades on.

"Hey, Lincoln, good to see ya, you heard about that copter, man?" A random man called out to Lincoln.

"Yeah, I heard, Jeff." Lincoln replies. '_Damn, when did all of this become so… normal_?' He thought to himself.

Really, just talking to people on the street like you know they won't stab you for engaging in polite conversation, not a lot of places like that anymore and something in Lincoln tells him his little _vacation_ may end soon, for some reason, he just can't shake it.

Lincoln and Lucy greet more passerby's. Some girls call out to Lincoln and plenty of guys ogling Lucy as they both go on and hear the word on the street.

Rumors of people from the outside being detained by Slade, it didn't matter to Lincoln or Lucy but they did take an interest in Conner hanging around a few other people his age and one girl Lucy recognized.

The two went to the Library, for Lincoln, but while there, he asked Lucy, "Do you ever think about getting back into poetry, I kinda miss hearing yours."

Lucy tilted her head in thought, "I suppose, since our confinement in this cage, I've felt less of an urge to express my thoughts and desires on paper, sigh, but I do miss writing, I can never find myself in a comfortable setting to explore my thoughts.

I miss the inky, unlit vents of our home, they were my domain, my labyrinth of a temple-"

"Yeah, too bad with a body like yours, you'd never fit in them again." Lincoln remarked but felt a cold spot and looked back at a stone-faced Lucy who he knew was making her angry face, "Not for the bad reason, it's just with you… growing into a… more mature and fleshed out woman, such a place… couldn't contain you… hehe." He laughed nervously as Lucy gave a nod and continued.

"Though I will have to find a new place to retreat into my thoughts, or perhaps I can find a new means of self-expression." Lincoln raised a finger.

"Well y'know, I could use a partner for one of my projects-"

"I'm being serious, posing nude as your life model will only help you not me, how many times must I say it." She said in mock anger.

"I w-what, but you're the one who brought up the idea-" Lincoln is shushed by lucy.

"But if you truly are desperate to capture my dark essence in all of its glory than I shall appease you, become your, shall we call it, muse." She ended with a slight smirk as Lincoln deadpanned, he knew what her game was.

Lincoln shook his head, *****sigh***** "Lucy… will you be my muse, I beg of you, let me capture your lustrous visage and preserve it on canvas for all of eternity." He said with clear sarcasm.

"Hmm, you may." Lucy gave permission and they both laughed.

~X~

The two had visited the Kent – Danvers family and left soon enough, Kara seemed content with her charged games and batteries, courtesy of Lincoln and hardly paid them any mind.

Clark and Conner were busy helping a family friend on a different farm.

Karen had been fairly decent until she left and came back in short-shorts and a crop-top more befitting on a child than her, then Lincoln practically dragged Lucy out. Karen was getting more and more bold with each visit and Lincoln was not in the mood.

Lincoln and Lucy were making their way back while the sun was beginning to set a beautiful shade of orange, this was nice.

All that was left was to make dinner and call it a night, Lincoln was thinking crispy pork-belly and veggies but when they got to their room, there was Beth.

"Fuckin' finally, you know long I've been waitin'? Boss wants you both in his office yesterday." She said, sounding tensed.

"For what?" Lincoln asked rather rudely, "We were about to get-"

"Yeah, yeah, you two can get freaky later, Slade wants you NOW." She could not stress it enough, she was probably waiting for hours, not knowing when he two would be back.

The lovers looked to each other and nodded, as per usual, whatever was shared on the empathic wave was their business.

The two followed Beth to Slade's building where he made himself known to the two.

"Ah, Mr. Park, Ms. Graves, pleasure to see you as always." Slade greeted the two but by the looks on their faces, he figured he should get down to business, "Ahem, as you may or may not have seen, a military grade Utility-helicopter landed hours ago, consisting of a pilot and two personnel.

Apparently, they have clearance, and they're here to meet me when there was a malfunction. Particles from the cloud had made contact with them, fortunately; no one was harmed, **un**fortunately; they still have a job to do and their business is taking them deep into the dead-zone.

The pilot's being sent back while the other two have to make their way to other outposts and they could use a really escort with lots of experience traveling the-"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Lincoln cut in, "What makes you think I'm taking anyone anywhere?" Lincoln demanded, he hadn't signed up for escort missions or going back into the dead-zone, not when he's still got business here.

"Well, I think the moment you meet them, you'll know why I'm sending you. I know you're here to get word out to your family but I think these are the people who can help, _they know Lisa, she was the one who sent them_." Slade whispered that part to the lovers as their eyes widened.

Lincoln and Lucy shared a look and they nodded.

"We'll meet them." Lincoln said, "But just meet, we haven't agreed to anything, yet," He told Slade, who smirked and nodded.

"Very well, you remember my office?" He asked as the two nodded, "Good, building's empty, it'll just be the four of you." Slade stated before leaving.

~X~

Lincoln and Lucy made their way to Slade's office, remembering their first day in Smallville.

Suddenly, Lincoln perks up, though only Lucy could hear muffles, Lincoln was hearing a conversation. A man and a woman, they were going back and forth.

"Just great, not only did our ride crap out on us but lady luck just gave us the shaft, Slade knows what we're looking for but we have to trek even further to this God-forsaken shit-hole, why can't we just nuke this place already-"

"Babe! Look I know you're upset, I know this is the last place you'd wanna be but you shouldn't talk like that, we're here now."

The woman sure sounded like she hated this place, probably all the rumors and stories the escapees told, honestly, a few years back, Lincoln would agree to nuke it from orbit, hell, he'd press the button himself if he could. At least this guy is trying to keep it together, no sane person would want to be in this kind of place, even if you're by the border.

As the two get closer, they could each hear the voices from behind the open door, they're getting closer.

The woman picks up, *****sigh***** "I know but if it wasn't for Lisa, we _literally_ wouldn't be here now."

That made Lincoln and Lucy pause, that one word, that poor and inappropriate usage of the word _literally_, it couldn't be- now that he thinks about it, the man called her babe, they're together but lots of couples say that.

As Lincoln paused right at the door, he felt Lucy's hand grip his and she was trembling, it couldn't, could it?

The two quickly pushed the door open and they were greeted to the image of a pair of adults tensing up, like they expected a fight.

Lincoln and Lucy were mesmerized, the two were in full bodysuits, black bases with grey trims and lightly armored, grey padding on the knees and black boots that went to their calves.

The man wore fingerless black gloves while the woman wore full covering black gloves

Though their bodies were mostly covered, their faces were exposed to show the two mutants who they were.

The man was tall, if Lincoln could guess, maybe 6'2". He has broad shoulders and was tanned, of clear Latin descend. His eyes are a dark-brown and the hair on his head was dark, cut short but slicked back, he had a Van Dyke styled beard; neatly trimmed lip hair and a soul-patch that merged with his chin goatee.

The woman was shorter, maybe 5'9", just as SHE should be. Though she has a smaller frame, Lincoln could see she was fit, and while the bodysuit does a decent job of hiding it, the curves of her body are still noticeable. Her skin is a light-creamy complexion which really highlights her golden-blonde locks, it's big, not long, _full body_ is closest word that comes to mind, it reaches the base of her neck and her bangs stop above her sapphire-blue eyes.

The two armored adults relax as they see the very pale girl and very tall and man in front of them and if they were being honest, these two looked pretty hot.

The girl was a little creepy but everything about her screamed dark, mysterious and alluring. Then we move onto her body, the girl was stacked, well-proportioned and her clothes were doing an amazing job bringing out those curves.

The guy was no slouch, defining features, quite the looker and even with clothes on, he was obviously muscular not to mention his hair and skin tone, not exactly common where they come from and that makes it all the more appealing, he looks like some kind of fantasy game character.

The man notices his partner staring at the tall man with her mouth gaping, he sees her cheeks redden and spots a little drool hanging off the end of her lip, "Seriously, right in front of me?"

The woman snaps out of it and quickly sees that the two of them are staring at her, she tries to introduce herself, ***cough*** "Hello, Slade told us that we needed to meet with the two of you, we are-"

She was cut-off by the man, "L-Lori… Bobby?" Lincoln stuttered out.

The now named Lori, raised a brow, "Yes, that's us. Lori Loud and Roberto Santiago, Slade's probably mentioned us to you." She reasoned with herself but Bobby gained a confused expression and squint his eyes as he got a closer look at the two, specifically Lucy.

"Uh… Babe-"

"Lori." Lucy spoke up, "It's US." The moment she said that, Bobby gapped.

"Little Lo-… bro?" Bobby quietly gasped much to Lori's ignorance.

"Bobby what are you talking abou-"

"Babe, take a look at them!" He yelled out as he got closer to them, he was getting frantic and Lori was feeling worried right about now.

Lori took a second to step back and think. Pale skinned girl, hair as black as the night and also hides her eyes from view, dressed in dark colors. That definitely raised number of flags.

The man in front of her however, not much about him she could recognize until she looked him from the bottom up and spotted the hair… wait.

Her eyes widened and bulged like they were ready to burst from her head, "Tha-that's not po- I, L-_Lincoln_?" It came out as a whisper, it almost hurt to say the names out loud and then she looked over to the girl, "Lucy?"

The two looked to Lori and smiled, a genuine smile then Lincoln spoke.

"Hey sis, hey Bobby, long time no see. So what'd we miss?"

**End of Prologue**

* * *

**AN: Good lord, almost 30,000 words, no wonder I've been a no-show, even missed my original planned date for the first of the month, make it a 1-year special post.**

**To be honest, I was kind of bored when I got to this point, freaking finally. I may go back and really edit the crap out of the earlier chapters, going back and re-reading them makes me cringed way more than when I uploaded them and went back to edit, but from what I've been told, that is a sign of progression, I'm getting better at writing or so I think.**

**I had so much to cut out, I can't even tell you. In case anyone was wondering, Michael, Michael Holt/ Mr. Terrific was the only person that I can recall that's ever dated Powergirl and not just a kiss or sharing obvious romantic feelings with. He may or may not come back, depends on a few things.**

**This whole [Prologue arc] was me setting up stuff, it took way longer than I meant it to, seriously a whole year, Christ! In the end I kind of got a hot mess, half used/explained plots that will come back way later but for now I'll be focusing on the other members of the Loud House.**

**Just briefly, Lori and Bobby are wearing stealth suit MKII from fallout, or as close to it as I'll make it with a lot more uses.**

**Small spoiler for the net chapter, it'll take place a few months before we get to this point, it'll be lore heavy and not super long, after that I'll take a hiatus and post other stuff before coming back to this.**

**On an unrelated note I was thinking about having music on the endings but I was against it, some writers plug in music and it can go really well with the setting, me I'm not going to try that for this comic, instead I kind of just want some nice tunes at the end, like a nice little outro. If I went through with it what I would have put after the -END OF PROLOGUE- would be - (Play *Silent Hill 2 OST - Theme of Laura*) it feels a little out of place and kinda uplifting.**

**I guess that's it for now, Review, follow, favorite and PM for criticism.**

**Join me next time for the second arc - The Great Lakes Incident **


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